Pokemon Adventure Pt 3: Arson In Johto
by Frabulator
Summary: Kyle's alone, but not for long. How will he make it without Shonna? Find out in the next part of Kyle's Pokemon Adventure, Arson In Johto.
1. Prologue

***** Please Note Before You Read *****

This story is Part 3 of 5, you MIGHT be able to understand what happens in it if you skip the previous stories, but I highly recommend that you go back and read them. A lot has happened up to this point; so skipping them would leave you out on a lot of details. Also, I must put a disclaimer in here, **I Do Not Own Pokemon**, the only thing that I claim in these stories are the characters that I have created and the story in which they travel.

With that being said, please enjoy the next addition in this fan fiction:

**Arson In Johto **

**The Pokemon Adventure: Part 3 **

**- - - Prologue - - -**

I couldn't see the stars from the black clouds that hung over head. A storm was coming, and it had to be a big one. The wind had picked up, blowing us so hard that Pichu was forced to take refuge in my bookbag. We had been on the sea for hours already but it was only moments ago that we started to feel the effects of the storm. Before too much longer I could feel small pieces of hail hit me on the face, and it wasn't too long after that the hail became larger and larger. Lightning was all around us, striking the water and making Gyarados wince. The waves were picking up, becoming so large that we were actually going at 90° angles most of the time. I hung on, as I could feel Gyarados starting to fall backwards going up the steep climb.

"Gyarados!" I screamed. "If you think you can do better under the waves dive on down!" When we leveled out I reached back for a pokeball and grabbed Pichu. "Listen to me Pichu, I know you don't like it but you have to get in here!" Pichu said nothing and just looked at me scared. "I'm your trainer, Pichu, so listen to me!" I screamed at the mouse. "Now if you don't get in here you're going to die!" I saw another wave start to pick up. "No more time." I pushed the ball up to him. "I'll let you out as soon as it's safe, now get in!" With that he pushed the ball, being sucked inside. I put him back in my book bag, hanging onto Gyarados tight. "Okay!" I screamed to him. "Go under!" I took a deep breath as I felt the cold ocean water hit my body. It wasn't any better under the water, but we did seem to be moving a lot faster. The force of the waves were pushing on my body, thrashing me against them. They were moving so fast that it felt like I was hitting a solid wall instead of water.

We emerged, in time for me to see Johto in the distance. "It's right up there!" I screamed, taking another breath as we went under water. This time, I opened my eyes, it burned, but I could still see. Suddenly something caught my eye as a giant Feraligatr swam right for us. I looked to see that it was being pushed around by the waves, and was tumbling uncontrollably. Gyarados made a sharp turn, almost throwing me off, but missing the Feraligatr as it flew by us. We rose to the surface of the water to see the island only a few hundred yards away. I smiled, knowing we were going to make it when, SLAM! A wave crashed down on me, making me lose my grip on Gyarados's spike. I fell to the water, striking something hard on my head. I opened my eyes, feeling my head, only to see blood floating in the water. Another wave crashed down and threw me into something else, bouncing me on the sea floor. I opened my eyes again to see blood in the water around me. I saw Gyarados's shadow swim over me, and then everything went black.

"Wow." I said to myself, as I saw everything fade. "This is a great way to start an adventure…" I closed my eyes, "Or end one."


	2. All Washed Up

**Chapter 1**

**All Washed Up**

Data Base 1100100111001010100010

Conner Log In

Password -- ********

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Entry Data Follow

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Day 185/06:47Hours

Course Of Action --

Item Retrieval/Outside System

Item Deposit/Inside System

Item/File Name --

Deposit 1

Deposit Location --

U:/exp1/stem/CrioNo002

Connect Directly To Location U:/esp1/stem/CrioNo001

Required Statements 1 --

Retrieval Of Specimen 001

Required Statements 2 --

Acquired On Location: Johto/639/2275/8696

Required Statements 3 --

Other Specimens Locations Unknown; Unable To Access Due To Outside Interruptions

Conner Log Off

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Good Day Conner

* * *

* * *

I opened my eyes, watching as the blackness cleared away from my vision. It was morning, not sunrise, but still morning. I couldn't believe it, not only was I alive, but I still had my glasses on. I could feel the warm sun on my face and some warm hair brush up on me. I raised up, coughing up some water. Arcanine leaned up to lick me on the face. He had his body wrapped around me, keeping me warm.

"You finally awake?" I heard a voice say. I turned to see the same guy as before, the one in the pool hall, sitting on the beach a few feet away. I knew it was him from that wild crazy red hair and those blood red eyes, but it also helped that be was wearing the same striped hoodie that I saw him in only two days before. "Nurse

Joy from the center is on her way over. She said she had some major pokemon problems first and that she would head over after that."

I leaned up, catching myself and feeling my head. The scratch I had was scabbed over already. I looked at the guy, who sat on the sand of the beach looking at me. I knew his name; at least I thought I did. "Ricky?"

"Hey, you remember me!" He said, walking over to me, holding out his hand to help me up.

"Rrrr…" Arcanine growled when he got closer.

He backed off, looking at us. "You need to do something about that mutt." He said, looking at Arcanine. "He hasn't let me near you this whole time."

I stood up, stumbling a little when Arcanine put his side to me for support. "He's not a mutt." I said, walking around dizzy. "If having a loyal pokemon is a bad thing I would hate to see what your idea of a good thing is." I wrapped my arms around Arcanine falling into his hair. "You did great, thanks Arcanine." My eyes opened wide as I looked around the beach line. "Where's Gyarados?"

"Right behind you." Ricky said, pointing to the ocean. I turned and saw, a little ways out, Gyarados slithering through the water. "It's hard to believe that you were able to make it through that storm last night alive, let alone having your two pokemon making it as well."

I threw down my book bag digging through it. Everything seemed to be there, all wet, but still there. I dug all the way down to the bottom and found the pokeball I stuck Pichu in.

Pushing the button, he hopped out. "Piii!" He hopped around dizzy, and fell over face first in the sand. "Pi?" He looked at the sand oddly before running around happy. "Pi! Pi!"

I watched Pichu start playing in the sand as I reached for my other pokeballs on my belt. "Oh crap!" I said.

"What is it?" Ricky asked, inching his way towards me. This time, Arcanine let him.

"All of my pokemon." I said reaching for my belt. "They're gone!"

"Ouch." He leaned up looking across the ocean line. "They could be anywhere. How many were there?"

"There were three others." I said, scooping Pichu up in my arms climbing on Arcanine's back, barely able to stand. "Dragonite, Scyther and Raticate."

He looked up at me strangely as the giant dog stepped in front of him. "Where are you going?"

"To find my friends." I said, with my back facing him. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

"When Joy gets here have her form a search party." I looked to the ocean line, taking a deep breath. "We will need all the help we can get." Me and Arcanine took off, running along the shore, with Gyarados quickly following in the water. I would recall him, but the only pokeballs I had were the ones belonging to Arcanine and Pichu.

Suddenly Arcanine came to a stop, sliding on the wet sanding, getting it stuck in the fur around his feet. I hopped off, looking at the ground. In front of us, buried half way in the sand was a pokeball. I picked it up, brushing it off. It was so dirty I couldn't really make out if it was mine or just a stray one. I pushed the button, letting out a stream of light that made Scyther appear on the ground before me.

"Scy!" He cried, stretching his swords.

"Oh thank God." I said putting my hand on his shoulder. I saw him wince when I did, but he did nothing but give me a stern look. "I thought I had lost you." I looked back to Arcanine, who was inspecting the rest of the shore for a glimpse of another pokeball. "But now that I found you," I said, looking at Scyther again. "I know that the others can't be too far away."

I recalled him, and scooped Pichu up again who was once more playing in the sand. We jumped back on Arcanine and continued down the shore.

We searched all over the shore for miles, but only found Gyarados's pokeball, which was badly damaged, and in need of some repairs. After a few hours we decided that there was no way possible that it would of washed down shore as far as we traveled. We turned around, heading back to the city.

The trip had me feeling better. Though I was worried about my Dragonite and my Raticate, I knew that if something happened they could take care of themselves.

When we arrived back at the town a few hours later we were surprised with how many people were pitched in to help. Not only had Ricky told Nurse Joy to help the search, but also he called on the local police department, the town's people, the local trainers, and even the people who were working in the laboratory.

I steered Arcanine up to Ricky, who was standing on the shore talking to some cops. I hopped off Arcanine, recalling him and walked over to Ricky. "What's going on?"

Ricky turned around, looking at me. "That's him." He said to the officers. "He's the one I found on the beach with the lost pokemon."

One of the cops sidestepped Ricky, walking in front of me. He stood over me, looking down on me, through his thick sunglasses. "Boy," He started, in his deep voice. "What the hell were you thinking going through a hurricane? You could have been killed, no, you should have been killed."

My mouth gapped open when he said this. "A hurricane?" I asked, making sure I heard what he said.

"Yes, a hurricane." He repeated. "That was the most irresponsible thing I have ever heard anyone do!" He reached for his back pocket, pulling out a pokeball. "This was found a few miles up shore. Tell me your name, the registration number on your missing pokemon, and the breed of the pokemon so we will know if this matches up."

"My name's Kyle Gray." I said. "I don't know what the registration number is on my pokemon, but I know for a fact that the pokeball you hold in your hand is my Dragonite."

The officer looked back at the other one, who scanned the pokeball with a device. I could see a picture come up on the screen in the reflection of their glasses. "Your photo ID matches, the ID name matches, the pokemon name matches." They pushed a few buttons and then handed me the ball. "Here is your Dragonite."

"Thank you." I said, releasing Dragonite on the ground beside me then recalling her, just to make sure it was really her. The officers began to walk away. "Wait!" I called out, running towards them. "What about my Raticate?"

They both stopped, taking a deep breath. "Well," the same cop as before said. "The search is still going on, but you might want to stop by the laboratory and get Professor Elm to edit your party."

"What do you mean?" I asked, putting my Dragonite on my belt, accidently letting Gyarados's broken pokeball fall to the ground.

"Well, what normally happens in a case like this is that the trainer who has a lost pokemon will report it to the pokemon professor of the region. From there the professor will change your party so that you can catch one more pokemon, so it's like you have one free spot on your party. Once the missing pokemon is found it will be deposited directly to your PC." The man watched as I fumbled with the broken pokeball. "And besides, you need to go up there anyway to get that ball fixed."

"Thanks," I said, giving up on putting it back on my belt as I just held it in my hand. "But what if my Raticate isn't found?"

The cop turned away. "We will do our best to see your pokemon are returned. That's all we can do." After that they walked away, joining Officer Jenny on the beach.

Ricky walked up after the cops had left. "Hey," he said, walking beside me.

I didn't say anything, just walked away from the beach leaving Gyarados in the water. I would come back for him, after I got his pokeball fixed, but for now he needed to stay there.

"Its okay, man." I heard Ricky say as he walked beside me. "The cops here are the best around, if your pokemon is gone they will find it."

"Thanks…" I said, half-heartedly. My Raticate is missing, and it's all my fault. Sure I didn't know that there was a hurricane heading between Johto and Kanto, but still, that was very reckless of me.

"Hey," He said, trying to break the mood. "How about lunch, on me? It's almost 1, and I know this great place not too far away."

"Sure." I once again said half-heartedly. "But lets stop at the lab first, wherever that is."

"No prob." He pulled his hands out of his white and black-striped hoodie, placing them behind his head in his thick red hair. "That's only a little bit away."

We kept walking away from the beach; soon it was just the two of us. The sun was high in the sky, and the lab was within sight. "So," I said, breaking the silence. "What were you doing on the beach with me?"

"Well," He started. "I left from Cinnabar Island the night after our pool game. When I got over here there was a hurricane warning and everyone was told to stay inside the basements of the buildings they were in. When the storm let up, at about 8 o-clock, I went down to the beach to see damage, but the hurricane didn't hit land, so there wasn't much. But when I went down there I saw an Arcanine curled up on the beach. It acted like it was protecting something, and every time I got close it would growl at me. After a while I saw that it was wrapped around you." I looked at him as he started chuckling. "Then I ran up to Nurse Joy who said she was busy, how comical. So I came back and was only there a few seconds when you woke up."

"So where am I?" I asked. "I was aiming for New Bark Town, am I close?"

"Well you're a pretty good shot." He laughed, pushing open the door to the lab. "You're right in the middle of it. " We walked in. I looked around at all the cluttered things, in many ways it looked a lot like Professor Oak's lab, but this was much more organized. Though it was cluttered, it was very well kept. There were no dirty plates lying around, no papers out of their place, and it didn't smell of old man either.

"Hello? Who is it?" I heard a voice say. It was rather squeaky and high pitched, but yet sounded masculine. "I'm in the study, please come on in."

"Hey Elm." Ricky said, putting a foot up in a chair as he leaned on his knee with this elbow. "We need some help."

"Oh hello Ricky." Elm said without looking away from the computer he was working at. "What do you need help with?"

"Not me." Ricky looked at me.

"I need some help." I spoke up.

The professor looked at me through his thick-rimmed glasses. "I don't think I have met you before, how may I be of assistance?"

"I'm Kyle Gray," I started off. "I need two things, really."

"Ah, yes, I thought you looked familiar." Professor Elm spoke as he turned to a drawer in his desk. "I would deduce that you have come here to register for your Johto journey, and to receive your beginner's guide books and equipment, am I correct, Mr. Pokemon Master of Kanto?" He turned in his rolling chair to face us once again, this time with a book and form in one hand with a bag of pokeballs and potions in the other.

"Piiii!" Pichu yawned, bored of sitting on my shoulder and listening to this boring man. He rubbed his eyes with this little hands, crawling into my book bag to sleep.

"Yes, that was one thing." I took the items out of his hands and laid them on the floor. "Thank you for all this, but the main reason I came here was that I have one damaged pokeball and another one that is missing." I dug out the pokeball that I stuck in my pocket, sitting it on the table.

The professor picked it up, examining it closely. "No problem." He said, opening the ball. He turned to his computer again, typing in a long line of numbers and letters. When he finished he reached into this desk and pulled out a new pokeball, sitting it on the table. "All your Gyarados's information has now been transferred to that pokeball."

"Thanks." I said, picking it up and putting it in my pocket.

"Now," Elm turned to us again. "What about the pokeball that is missing? Did it have a pokemon in it?"

"Yes," I spoke up. "It had my Raticate in it. I have all the townspeople, the police department, and all the local trainers looking for it as we speak, but…" A short moment of silence went over the lab.

"I understand." He said turning once more to the computer. "You said it was your Raticate?"

"Yes."

"ID number 0942099?"

"I… don't know, I have never really kept up with that." I rubbed my head, feeling embarrassed and ashamed all at the same time.

He let out a quick sigh. "Seeing as how that is the only Raticate you own, I would presume that its number is indeed 0942099." He punched in some more buttons, which was followed by a long series of flashing lights and beeps. "Alright." He punched a few more buttons. "Your pokemon has been labeled as a missing pokemon. You will be notified of any information and leads via PC. Until 0942099 is found you will have one extra slot on your party, so you can hold an extra pokemon in place of 0942099. When 0942099 is found it will be directly deposited into your PC."

"Now, Kyle, since you're starting your journey," Elm said, standing up. "You need to be acquainted with your new pokemon."

He walked around us as I followed him into the other room. "You mean I get a new pokemon?"

"Of course." Elm said. "I thought you of all people would know that any time you start a league you are given a starter pokemon for free."

We walked into a room with a small round table in the middle of it, Ricky right behind us. Elm walked to a button on the other side of the room. When he pushed it a light came on over the table and three pokeballs appeared out of thin air.

"You can pick between three pokemon, a grass type Chikorita, a water type Totodile, or the fire type Cyndaquil." Elm walked behind me. "Or you could be like a certain someone who refused my pokemon all together." He glared at Ricky who jumped back a little.

"Well…" Ricky said, rubbing his head. "I really didn't like any of them."

I heard him and Elm get into it, but was too concerned to care. My Raticate was out there somewhere, but what hurt me the most was what Oak told me before I left Articuno with mom. _'You're a league champion, which makes your pokemon valuable. If you let your guard down they might get stolen.'_ I really hope that wasn't what happened, I mean, I barely had him for very long. What a bad trainer I am to lose my own pokemon.

"Come on Mr. Six Months," Ricky said from behind me. "If I'm tagging along with you I don't want to waste time." He chuckled as he turned away. "Like we have plenty anyway."

"I don't recall me asking you to 'tag along'." I said, without turning around.

"You didn't have too," He laughed. "I want to see if you can really complete the league in six months. Not just that, but you'd be a real chick magnet, Mr. Pokemon Master." He laughed, wrapping his arm around me. "I could score every night with a new girl if we played our cards right."

I brushed his arm off me. How disgusting. I always hated guys for that one reason, all they thought about was who they would be sleeping with that night, and this one is a prime example. I hate people like him. "Hey Elm." I spoke, ignoring Ricky. "I've decided on Cyndaquil."

"A fine choice!" Elm said, walking over to the pokeball on the table. "Especially considering that he was the only one I had left."

Ricky and I both fell over, hitting the ground, only to jump up just as fast. "What do you mean the only one you had left?" I asked.

"Well," He answered. "With the league being only six months away I didn't think I would have any new trainers coming in for a while."

I sighed, taking the Cyndaquil from him. "I guess it's okay," I smiled. "Seeing as how I got the one I wanted anyway."

"Finally!" Ricky sighed. "Lets get out of here, we've got places to go."

I turned around, giving him a glare, which shut him up. I turned back to the professor. "Thank you Elm for everything." I looked down to the form that was in my hand. "When do you want me to turn this in?"

"Oh, that doesn't count for anything," He said, leading us to the door. "It is only a survey that asked what your expectations are about the league, it is completely voluntary." He opened the door, letting in the bright sun. "You all have a nice day, good luck on the journeys, and I wish you luck Kyle with 0942099."

"Thanks." I said, stuffing all my stuff into my book bag.

As we walked away I heard Ricky sigh. "That guy's lame."

"He seemed nice," I said looking at my new Cyndaquil's pokeball.

"Oh, you can tell he's never been laid." Ricky laughed.

"You know," I spoke. "There's more to women than getting into their pants."

He didn't say anything, just laughed hysterically, that is until he saw the look on my face. When he did he stopped, closing his mouth tight. I turned my head, facing back to the beach as we kept walking. "So," I said. "How did you know the professor?"

"I started the Johto journey too, you know." He said, putting his hands behind his head. "Everyone that starts has to go there, talk to him, you know, all that stuff."

"So is that it?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. That guy remembers names better than anything, or at least that's what I have been told." Ricky turned to me as we kept walking. "Lets talk about you, why didn't you tell me you were the pokemon master back in the pool hall?"

"Well I didn't think you needed to know." I said, my eyes fixed in front of us, watching Gyarados play in the water. "It's not like I knew who you were or anything."

"How old are you?" He questioned.

"16, you?"

"You're not that much older than me then," He said. "I just turned 15 not too long ago."

This surprised me, though I didn't show it. He was 15 and already had his brain full of sex. What a pity. Why do all the people my age have to give youth a bad name?

I walked onto the beach, only to be greeted by the police. "Did you get it all worked out at the lab?" The taller one asked.

"Yeah." I looked to the shoreline. "Any luck finding my pokemon?"

The cop shook his head. "Not yet, but we are not giving up."

"Thank you." I said, walking into the water. "Gyarados!" I called out. "Come here, I got you a new pokeball!" The dragon slithered up to me, splashing me with water in a playful way. "Hey now!" I laughed, tossing out his ball. "Get back in, we need to go." The ball hit him, sucking him inside. It fell to the water as the waves brought it back to me.

I turned around, walking back to Ricky. "You said you know of a place that has some good eats?" I really hated to ask anything of him, but I was starving, and if he was going to stick around anyway I might as well make use of it.

"Oh heck yeah!" He jumped in joy. "The chicks there are so ho-"

"You darn well better not be taking me to some milk bar, or something like that." I said, cutting him off in such a tone that made it evident I was serious.

"Well… um…" He paused for a minute. "There's a fast food place a little ways up, if you're interested."

I sighed, shaking my head. How would I ever make it with him tagging along beside me? "Well, if I have to walk I would prefer to go in style." I put down my book bag, digging out my leather jacket, the item holder that had my biker stuff in it and the capsule for my bike.

"What's that stuff?" Ricky asked.

I pushed the item holder, letting out my helmet and gloves. The commotion woke Pichu, who was asleep in my book bag since we arrived at Elms lab. I slipped on the jacket and gloves, adjusting the helmet as Pichu dug through the book bag for his gear too. "This stuff is for my ride." I pushed the button, throwing the capsule onto the ground in front of me. The smoke cleared, as I walked over the bike, throwing my book bag in one of the side storage compartments under the cup holder Pichu crawled in.

"Wow!" Ricky said, looking at the bike. "I have never seen a bike like that, can I drive it?"

Me and Pichu stared at him. I chuckled, raising the hood and sitting down. "Don't get your hopes up kid." I started the bike, revving the engine. "Are you ready Pichu?"

"Pi!" He called out, as he zipped up his leather jacket and adjusted his goggles.

"Wait!" Ricky said. "You mean you're not even going to let me ride?"

"This is my ride." I said. "Get your own." I revved the engine, popping it into gear as me and Pichu sped off down the road.

"Hmph." Ricky grinned, gritting his teeth as he watched us sink away into the distance. "Go on, try to run. I'll catch up." He reached to his belt, pulling off a pokeball. "There is no way I'm letting this opportunity slip through my fingers." He threw out his pokeball, releasing his Dodrio on the ground in front of him. He ran up, hopping on her back. "Follow that bike, girl!"

"Drii!" The three-headed bird called out as it chased after the red blur.


	3. Flirts and Fights

***** I AM SO SORRY! *****

Turns out that I posted up chapter 3 instead of chapter 2

If you all read "Feather Shocker" before "Flirts and Fights" then you have skipped a chapter.

Once again, I apologize, and I have just fixed it. I hope you like the story! And remember, reviews are nice x3 3

**Chapter 2**

**Flirts and Fights**

Pichu and I pulled up into Cherrygrove City. I looked behind me, not seeing any sign of the obnoxious Ricky on our tail. I got off the bike, sighing a sigh of relief. I knew that I wouldn't lose him for long, but I might as well take the chance to have some alone time to get to know my new pokemon.

Taking off my helmet I picked up Pichu from the cup holder he sat in. "Are you ready to meet our new friend?"

"Pi-chu!" He beamed, putting his goggles on his head.

I took out the pokeball that I put in Raticate's place, throwing it on the ground. Out came the fire mouse pokemon. Pichu immediately jumped from my shoulder, sniffing around on the ground at the pokemon.

"Quil!" The cyndaquil called out, running scared behind my leg. When he did he looked up to me. "Quil!" He cried again, this time running to hide behind a rock.

"Pi?" Pichu looked at it curiously, inching his way towards the new pokemon.

Cyndaquil hid behind the rock, every inch Pichu grew closer the flames on his back rose. "Quil!" It screamed, shooting out an ember attack that barely missed Pichu.

Pichu's cheeks lit up with electricity, "Pichu!" He was covered in a swarm of electricity as it charged at the mouse.

"Alright!" I said, walking over to pick up Pichu, who shocked me in retaliation. "Pichu, stop!" I held him back, looking into his eyes as they filled with tears. I know the little guy didn't mean to shock me, but still this was getting a little bit out of control. Putting him on my shoulder I looked to Cyndaquil on the ground, who was still fired up. "Cyndaquil, you don't need to be afraid." I said, squatting down to his level. "I know that at first it can be a little scary joining a party, but trust me, you will love all of my pokemon." I gave him a smile as he looked at me with doubt. "Well, bud, you don't need to take my word for it." I said, rising up. "Instead would you like to talk to my other fire pokemon?" I pushed the button on the pokeball around my neck as Arcanine hopped out.

"Arf!" Arcanine barked happily.

Strange enough as it seemed, Cyndaquil came out, peeking around the rock at Arcanine who walked right up to the little mouse. "Quil?" He tilted his head oddly.  
"Arf!" Arcanine licked the mouse playfully, making him laugh.

"Quil, Quil, Quil!"

They both played there for a while, hopping around. It actually looked pretty funny to watch, a massive dog monster like Arcanine hopping around on the ground playing with something as small as a Cyndaquil. I couldn't help but chuckle watching them play as a Dodrio came up behind me.

"Gosh, how fast does that thing go?" Ricky asked, hopping off of his three-headed bird pokemon. "We ran full speed and still couldn't keep up with you!"

"Really?" I asked, watching him recall his pokemon. "And here I thought I was giving you a little give, I didn't even take it out of second gear."

"You're full of crap!" He yelled, walking up behind me. "There is nothing around that can go that fast without maxing out."

"Okay Arcanine, come here boy!" I called out, ignoring Ricky. Arcanine bent down, letting Cyndaquil craw on his back as he ran towards us. When he got closer he kneeled down, letting me pick Cyndaquil off his back. "If it makes you feel any better," I said, looking at Cyndaquil. "I will let you hang around with Arcanine some more."

"Quil! Quil!" He squeaked, turning to look back at Arcanine as I recalled them both, putting Cyndaquil's ball back on my belt.

"So why did you do that?" Ricky asked as I turned to face him.

"Do what?" I asked, with Pichu tilting his head sidewise to look at him.

"Why did you just jump on the bike and leave?"

I didn't say anything, just walked on by him, heading to the across the street from where we were.

"Well, are you going to say anything?"

"Ricky," I finally said. "I have had a really rough day, could you please just lay off?"

I heard him huff as we walking into the food joint. He didn't talk much after that, which was good because it gave me the chance to think things out.

* * *

We walked to the pokecenter after that, maybe I was just being hopeful, but I had to know if they found anything on Raticate. Ricky walked in behind me as I went to the P.C. system in the corner of the room. I watched in the corner of my eye as he followed right behind me the whole way, even when I went to log in my information and password. I stopped waiting on him to back off, but he didn't.

"Hey Rick," I said, turning around. "Could you go get me a coffee from Nurse Joy?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." He said, walking away.

I rolled my eyes. I'm sure that he didn't mean any harm, that he was just a stupid guy, but still I didn't want anyone knowing my information or pokemon stats. I logged on while he was talking to the nurse. No new mail about Raticate, but there were a few pokemon that were missing. Articuno was gone, but that was to be expected, I'm guessing that if I ever wanted to take it out I would have to email my mother a request to do so. Pidgeot and Umbreon were also gone, I would guess that they were being 'observed' as well. "Oh well," I sighed. I really wanted to take Umbreon out and give him some time to stretch, but I guess I can wait till next time. Kabuto on the other hand was still available, and he needs some training, badly. I could start training him and Cyndaquil together, which would keep their levels about the same and also give them both sparing partners. But, I thought, I would have to deposit one. On the bike's GPS I don't remember seeing any water or lakes for a while that I would need to cross, so I guess I could leave Gyarados behind for now. Though he is strong, he is almost useless on land. I pulled out his pokeball, putting it on the deposit tray. I plugged in my information once more, and then the ball vanished into thin air. A light lit up on the screen showing that Gyarados was properly transferred to the P.C. system. Well now, lets see. I haven't had a lot of time to spend with Beedrill, so I'd like to get him back. I guess I wont need Dragonite for a while, so I'll deposit her too. I reached for her ball, placing it on the transfer unit. After that I selected Kabuto, plugged in my password and information again, withdrew him, and did the same thing for Beedrill. This was such a strange feeling, having so many pokemon that you want in your party and having to only pick six. It's hard.

I put the pokeballs on my belt, closing out of the system and logging off. I turned around, expecting to see Ricky, but instead he wasn't around. "That's odd," I said, looking around. "He should be right here, well, I guess he should be, seeing as how he has been hanging around me like a lost puppy."

"You perv!" I heard nurse joy scream.

I rolled my eyes, already knowing what was going on. I walked around the corner, seeing her and Ricky kissing deeply. I stopped, dead in my tracks. I didn't know what to say. I quickly took Pichu off my shoulder, who was watching the whole thing with wide eyes, not know what was going on. I stuck him in my book bag, making sure he didn't see any more of that.

Nurse Joy pushed away from the kiss, taking a deep breath. "Oh, your so…" She drug him in again, pulling him on her, kissing him like crazy.

I walked up to him, reaching up and grabbing his red shaggy hair. "What happened to my coffee, Romeo?"

The nurse stopped kissing him to look at me. "Is it true?" She asked, pushing Ricky away from her. "Are you really Kyle Gray, the pokemon master?" She hopped on the counter Ricky was sitting on, crawling towards me with her shirt unbuttoned. "Are you? Are you?"

"I… um." I just looked at her dumb founded, not knowing what to say, but knowing what to do. "Excuse me." I said, still gripping onto Ricky's hair as I drug him out of the center, him screaming the whole time.

When I got out of the center I threw him against the wall. "What was that? What the heck did you say to her? Why would you do that to a Nurse Joy?!"

"Well if you hadn't busted in I could have worked my way back into the back room with her." He said, grabbing his head. "And why the hell did you pull my hair?"

"Oh you poor little baby." I said, giving him a look of disgust. "And what did you tell her about me, anyway? She sure seemed to know a lot about me."

He smiled, standing up. "If you keep an attitude like that you will never get laid." He shrugged and started laughing. "I started off by saying I wanted a hot coffee, and then it turned into her being hot, I gave a few looks, touched her face, eye gazing, little whispering, showing off my badges, bragging about you, then it went from there to the counter, her boobs, and…"

"Okay!" I screamed. "I get it, I get it." I turned away, shaking my head. "If your going to pull crap like that don't mention me, and don't do it while I'm around."

"Why not?" He paused, then with some shock in his voice he said, "Your not … you know… are you?"

I turned around, shouting at him again. "So just because I have respect for women that automatically makes me-"

"Shhh!" He hushed, looking around to see all these old people looking at us. "Okay, fine, you're not, but keep it down your making a scene."

I turned, looking around to see a bunch of people standing stopped in their tracks looking at us. "Hmph." I huffed, reaching into my pocket to bring out the capsule for my bike and the item holder for my helmet; I was still wearing my gloves and jacket. I pushed both buttons, throwing them on the ground. When the smoke cleared I put on the helmet, taking Pichu out of my book bag, to stick him in his cup holder.

"Oh not that thing again." Ricky said, looking at the bike. "Are you going to let me drive this time?"

I raised the lid, sliding into the seat. "I bet you don't even have a license, pipsqueak, so how could you?" I started the bike, revving the engine and taking off up to the north. I saw in the side mirror that Ricky was on his Dodrio before I took off. The little twerp was still going to follow me, what a drag. But I guess I could have some fun losing him along the way.

I focused my sight on the navigation system under the radio, punching away at the touch screen. It looked like the closest town was Violet City, 67 miles away. With the current speed, the estimated arrival time would be thirty-eight minutes. "Well that wont do." I said, looking back to the road that was turning fast into nothing more than a blur. "At that speed I wont be able to have some time to train my pokemon without 'sex for brains' catching up." I looked down at Pichu, who was pretending to steer the bike from his cup holder. "Hang on little bud!" I said as I dropped the bike into fourth gear, speeding up. I looked back down to the navigation system, which now said the estimated time of arrival was reduced to twenty nine minutes. I looked back to the road, which was going by so fast I could barely see anything. Everything was blurred, and I was solely driving from the navigation system, hoping that the road map was up to date.

When the town was within 2 minutes away I slowed down, putting the bike back in third, then second, and then back to first. Even though we were cruising at 60mph, I felt like I was crawling. I guess the high speeds on the bike were messing with me, but at least Ricky wouldn't be bothering us for a long time. We pulled into the town, pulling to a stop outside of the pokecenter. Pichu hopped out first, taking off his goggles and unzipping his jacket. He looked around in awe at the new place he was at.

"Pi! Pi! Pi!" He cried out, running around my feet, playing in the small shrubs outside of the center. I didn't say anything, just laughed and put away my bike and helmet. When everything was put away I picked up the little mouse, who ran for my brown hair, nuzzling around in it. This town was rather large. In the north was a very tall tower that was surrounded by ponds on both sides. In west had a gym, pokemart, a line of apartments and a few fast food places. The south had a few little shops and some more houses, not to mention a large road leading out. And in the east entrance, where we were, there was a pokemart as well as pokemon academy, which was obvious from the large sign that said, "Best Academy of the Year!" that was ten years old.

"I would like to go ahead and get the badge here," I said to Pichu. "But I don't know anything about the leader, and three of my pokemon need some training." I picked Pichu off my head, giving him a smile.

He looked around, and then pulled one of little hands to his face. "Pi?" He asked.

I chuckled. "Yes, one of those three is you."

"Piiii-iii…" Pichu whined as he hung his head low.

"Oh come on now," I said, looking at him in the face. "Pichu, the pokemon that fought as one of the pokemon master's party in the Kanto League Championship and won doesn't want to train?"

Pichu looked down, then looked up, rolling his eyes. "Pi pi-chu."

I laughed, sitting him on the ground. "Thanks Pichu." I then reached for a pokeball on my belt. "Go Cyndaquil."

The mouse pokemon hopped out of his pokeball, facing Pichu. "Quil?" He raised up, looking around. He then turned to me. "Quil, Quil! Cynda-quil!"

I looked at him strangely, at first not understanding, but after a while it clicked with me. "Oh, you want Arcanine out?"

"Quil!" Cyndaquil squeaked.

"Okay then, but he's only going to watch." I pushed the button on the pokeball around my neck, releasing Arcanine, who sat beside me. "There Cyndaquil," I said. "Arcanine's out, but you still need to battle, you and Pichu need to train."

"Quil…" He sulked, looking back at Pichu.

"Alright you two," I said, walking between them. "Now, do exactly as I say and neither of you will get hurt in this exercise." I looked over to Cyndaquil first. "You need to trust me, and trust in my orders." I looked at Pichu. "And I need both of you to give it your all." I walked back away, noticing that Cyndaquils fire on its back wasn't lit. No matter though, as soon as the battle starts it will kick in. I walked to Arcanine, who was lying down on the ground. I hopped on his back, getting him to stand up. If Pichu or Cyndaquil get to into it they may not be able to control their powers, a lot of new pokemon are like that, so I need to be able to get away quick if that happens. "Okay." I said, having Arcanine walk around them. "You all ready?"

"Pi!" Pichu said, having little sparks fly from his cheeks.

"Cynda!" Cyndaquil squeaked, having a couple flames shoot out of his back, but obviously not all that he could.

"Alright." I said, getting ready for the quick orders I was about to order. "Pichu, gather electricity and use tackle. Cyndaquil dodge to your left."

Pichu shot a few little sparks out of his cheeks as it ran for Cyndaquil. I saw Pichu two times use a full fledge volt tackle, but that was when he was really mad, so I expected this time to only be enough to give a static shock, which it was. As Pichu got closer Cyndaquil jumped to the left, dodging.

"Good!" I called out. "Cyndaquil shoot some flames at Pichu. Pichu, jump in the air over Cyndaquil to dodge!"

Cyndaquils flames on his back went into full blast as it shot out a small ember attack at Pichu who jumped in the air to avoid the blast. The shot barely missed Pichu, but he did jump completely over it, landing a few feet away from Cyndaquil.

"Great job!" I called out, watching as a passerby came to watch. "Cyndaquil, that's called an Ember attack."

"Quil?" He questioned.

"Do you think you can shoot some more of those?"

"Quil!" He beamed happily.

"Okay, Pichu!"

"Pi?" He tilted his head, looking at me.

"You need to work on your speed, so your going to be dodging everything Cyndaquil throws at you."

"Quil, quil, quil!" Cyndaquil laughed.

"Hey," I said looking at him. "I wouldn't laugh, your going to be dodging Pichu's attacks next."

"Pi, i, i." Pichu chuckled.

"Alright, enough playing around." I said as I saw another person come to watch the battle. "Cyndaquil, shoot the smallest ember attacks you can as fast as you can at Pichu. Pichu, dodge by jumping with your legs, arms and tail."

"Pi?" He looked at me again tilting his head.

"Awww!" I head a girl say as she joined the growing crowd.

"You'll figure it out." I said, having Arcanine walk around in front of the people so they wouldn't get hurt. "Okay Cyndaquil, go!"

Cyndaquil started shooting off small slivers of fire at Pichu, who dodged them as fast as he could. I heard Arcanine chuckle in a few low woofs. I knew why he was laughing, he was remembering back when he was a pup, shooting those popcans the same way, building up his ember attack strong enough to make it a Flamethrower attack. I watched the battle, seeing Cyndaquil shooting flames faster and faster making Pichu jump more and more. A few came close, but none of them hit. Before long Pichu started moving so fast that it appeared like there were two of him, and then three.

"Okay, stop!" I said as Cyndaquil laid down on the ground, taking deep breaths, and the two of the three Pichus vanished, leaving only the one in the middle, he too, was out of breath. "That was really great you two." I said, hopping off of Arcanine, putting out a few embers that were on the ground. "Pichu, you learned Double Team!"

"Huff… Huff… Pi?" He tilted his head again, which once more made the girls around us awe.

"When you run really fast, like you were doing before, it appears like there were more than one of you, that's a Double Team."

"Piiiii!" Pichu nodded, with his eyes opened wide.

"Would you like to try it again?"

"Pichu!" He put up is paw as the crowd of girls cooed again.

"Okay, go!" With that Pichu ran as fast as he could around Cyndaquil, making it look like there were two of him, then three, and then four. "Alright Cyndaquil," I said, hopping back on Arcanine. "When an enemy is using a Double Team like that you can't trust your eyes." He looked at me confused. "Close your eyes, listen for his footsteps. Keep in mind that he is running in a circle around you." I saw him slowly close his eyes, listening closely. The group around us, now close to twenty people, kept silent, trying not to disturb us. "Once you're locked on to him, shoot an ember attack where you think he's going to be." I watched patiently as the flames on Cyndaquil's back lit up, and he shot a fire ball at one of the Pichus, striking him hard enough to throw him into one of the little girls behind him.

The girls all gasped as Pichu fell at their feet. "Pii-iii-ii-" He said, walking around dizzy.

"You poor little thing!" One of the girls said, bending down to pick him up. "You didn't get hurt did you?"

Pichu looked at the girl oddly, turning his head sideways. "Pi?"

Once again the girls squealed as he made cute little faces at them. I smiled, shaking my head. "That little mouse, what a lady-killer." I said under my breath. "Okay, Pichu, its your turn."

"Pi!" He called out, jumping out of the girl's hug, landing back down on the ground in front of Cyndaquil. "Now, Pichu, charge up with some static."

"Piiiiii…" Pichu said as he started to spark with electricity all around him.

"Good!" I said, watching him start to glow with little sparks all over him. "Now, hold out your hands and try to make the electricity gather in my palms." He stretched out his arms, as the sparks went from his body to concentrating in his hands. "Perfect! Now, try to throw it on the ground." With that Pichu pulled his hands closer to his body, then pushed them away fast, throwing the small ball of electric on the ground, where it fizzled out. "Great job, Pichu!" I called out. "That was an attack called a Thunder Shock."

Pichu just stood there speechless for a long time, looking at his hands like 'Did I just do that?'

"Alright Pichu, do you think you can do that like Cyndaquil did with his ember attack?"

Pichu looked at me, holding up both arms in the air and then thrusting them down to his chest. "Piiiiiii-Chu!" He said

"Alright great." I said looking at both of them. "When I say go, Pichu you as many of the smallest Thunder Shocks you can at Cyndaquil, and Cyndaquil it's your turn to dodge."

"Quil." Cyndaquil said, lighting the flames on his back once more.

"Alright." I looked to them both again. "Are you two ready?" When they both nodded I took a deep breath. "Go!"

Pichu started by charging up, letting little sparks fly out at Cyndaquil when he punched. The attacks were not strong enough to even reach Cyndaquil, who was still trying to dodge them. I didn't say anything, though, I mean, its not like it was a real battle or anything, they are still both learning. Besides, the small burst of attacks like this will help them learn how to control their powers better, get their aim dead on, and also let their power grow. Though it may not seem like much to them, a bunch of little attacks gets them to use more power without being tired verses using one massive attack that would leave them drained.

A few minutes into training I noticed Pichu wasn't using his hands to throw the electricity anymore, instead he was just holding his arms out in the direction he wanted it to go. "Nice going Pichu! You're doing great! Keep focusing your attacks just like you're doing!" I also noticed Cyndaquil pick up his speed. At first he was hardly able to jump off the ground, now he was jumping high in the air, landing on his front paw and jumping again. "You're doing great Cyndaquil, but you all should take it up a notch. Pichu, put a little more power into your shocks. Cyndaquil, try to run instead of jumping, you're better off on land."

With that Pichu turned up the juice, making the thunder shocks actually hit within the proximity of Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil, on the other hand, was having a much harder time dodging attacks that could actually reach him. At first he did nothing more but run away from the little shocks, but after a while he started to dodge them. He ran to the left, then to the right, running around Pichu in so many directions that Pichu actually got dizzy after a while.

"Piii-iii-ii!" He called out as he stumbled around dizzy.

"Quil, Quil, Quil," Cyndaquil panted as he slowed down.

I hopped off Arcanine, walking up to the two, knelling down to their level. "You all did really great today, I'm very proud of you." I smiled at them, rubbing them both on the head. "You two deserve a rest." I put Pichu on my shoulder, and picked Cyndaquil up in my arms. When I turned around I saw that the crowd had turned into about 30 – 40 people, who were all clapping and cheering.

"That was so cool!" One of the kids said.  
"I want to be just like you when I grow up!" A little boy said.

"Very nicely done young man." An elderly person said.

"Well, thank you all," I said, as the three of us rubbed our heads. "But I didn't do anything, it was my friends who did."

"You're so cool!" One of the little boys said when he ran up to me with a pokeball and a marker. "Can I have your autograph?" He held up his pokeball.

"Umm… I guess so…" I can honestly say I had never had a person ask me that, but, oh well.

"Thanks so much!" The boy said as one of the girls that was all over Pichu ran up to me.

"Can I have your number?" She asked, giving me a pen while she twisted her butt in one of those slutty looking school outfits.

"No, but you can have mine." I heard Ricky say, shoving me out of the way. "This is my friend, Kyle Gray, you know, the pokemon master?"

Everyone in the crowd went silent.

"Its true!" He said, wrapping his arm around the girl that asked for my number. "And if you want," He rubbed one finger under the girl's chin. "I can tell you more." He moved in closer, putting his lips only inches away from hers, whispering ever so softly. "That is, if you want to get to know me better."

A tall guy from the crowd, probably in his late thirties, walked up to Ricky, Grabbing him by the hair and holding him up off the ground. "Ahhh!" He screamed. "What is it with the hair today!?!"

Part of me wanted to leave, being around all these people made me feel uncomfortable, but at the same time I really wanted to see Ricky get his just desserts.

"What do you think your doing to my daughter!?" The man yelled through his thick beard.

"Daddy, please!" The girl jumped up and down. "He was just being nice, please daddy, don't beat up this boy too!"

"Hmph." I smiled, hopping on the back of Arcanine, watching as the focus of the crowd went from me to Ricky. "My, my, I don't know who's going to love this more, me, or the father."

"Ahh, not the hair! What do you mean 'too'?" Ricky asked.

The girl sighed. "The last two boys that kissed me left with two black eyes and some broken ribs."

I heard Ricky gulp. He turned around to look at me. "Kyle, aren't you going to help?"

"What? What's that?" I yelled, knowing full well what he said. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over your womanizing."

"That's it punk!" The man said, raising up his free hand to form it into a fist that was drawn back. "Lights out!"

"Weeeeaaaarrrrroooo!" The police sirens went off, which made all the people scatter like scared rats. The father, however, kept his fist drawn back, looking back and forth at the approaching cops and the boy who tried to put the moves on his daughter.

He finally let Ricky go, dropping him on the ground. "Let this be a warning!" The man said, pointing his finger at Ricky. "If I see your face around my baby again, the cops will be taking you away in a body bag." With that the man took off down the street.

* * *

When the cops arrived Officer Jenny went straight to Ricky, I guess he looked more suspicious or something, while the other cop came to me. He stood in front of me, questioning what happened.

"Yeah," I said. "I was training my Pichu and Cyndaquil when that bozo showed up and started putting the moves on some younger girl."

The cop took out a note pad and started scribbling something down. "And? Anything else?"

"Yeah, the girl's father came and threatened to beat him up, but when you all came he ran like mad, just like the rest of the towns folk that was standing around."

The cop looked at me over his thick shades. "So have you met that young man with red hair before? Do you know him?"

"Sadly." I huffed. "For whatever reason he demands to tag along with me, the womanizing pig."

"What exactly was he trying to do?" The cop asked.

I looked over his shoulder, and then put my hand to my face as I pointed to Ricky. "That."

The cop turned to see Ricky having Officer Jenny pinned up on the police car, her legs wrapped around him, deeply kissing on him. The cop's glasses dropped off his face as he watched. "Dang…"

We watched for a few more seconds until Officer Jenny pushed him off of her. She then straitened out her skirt, fixed her hat, and proceeded to write him a ticket.

"Well…" The cop said. "Um… I… um… " He turned back to me. "I guess that's all sir, thanks for everything." He picked up his glasses as he walked away, hopping back in the police curser.

Ricky walked up beside me, red lipstick all over the neck of his hoodie. "Boy, that was the best ticket I ever got."

I just stared at him, shaking my head with disbelief on my face.

"Aren't you even going to ask me how much it was for?" He smiled.

"Arg." I groaned, now even more disgusted with him. "Sure tell me." The only good thing out of this whole incident was that he did indeed get a ticket, so I might as well know how much it was.

"It was for 453-334-1287!" He laughed, pushing the paper in my face.

"Wait… how much?" I took the ticket, looking it over.

_Crime Committed: __Call me XoXoXo 3_

_Charge: $ __453-334-1287_

_Ticket Wrote By: __Officer Jenny_

"I don't believe it." I said, throwing the ticket back in his face.

He laughed more. "I love at the bottom corner where she kissed it." He paused, still following me. "I'm surprised she had enough lipstick left to do that."

I walked into the pokemon center, closing the door in Ricky's face. My gosh, that guy is so disgusting, how in the heck do women find him so attractive, even the ones that I think wouldn't? Nurse Joy, O fficer Jenny, the slutty freshmen I can kinda see, but come on, Jenny? I shook my head, putting my pokemon on the counter. "Heal these please, Joy."

"Of course!" She said, scooping them up in her hand and laying them down on the poke-healer.

"Hey man, what's up with you?" Ricky said, walking up behind me. "You left me trailing long behind you when you left Cherrygrove and when I got here you had a group of girls around you." He stuck his hands on his hips. "You know I love girls more than anything, why didn't you tell me you were trying to pick some up? Then when you did you almost let me get pounded over it. And just a few seconds ago you left me outside talking to a door about officer Jenny." He crossed his arms. "Not cool man."

"Sorry, but I must have missed the memo about me trying to impress you." I said, scooping up my pokeballs from the tray. "Next time I'll try to be more considerate of your STD filled future." I walked by him, signing in for a room at the registration list.

"God, are you always this up tight?" Ricky asked, watching me grab the key to my room.

"Ricky," I paused, my back facing him. "I have had a long day. The sun is already setting, and I'm tired. I have lost one of my pokemon, and gained a tag along that thinks about nothing except how many girl's panties he can get into. Personally," I said, still not facing him. "I think you are the worst scum there is, and I would prefer that you didn't hang around me if you're going to act like that." I threw my jacket over my shoulder as I walked into my room, locking the door behind me. I took Pichu out of my book bag, who had been asleep since the training ended. I laid him on the pillow beside me as I took off my pants, and shirt, slipping into my pajamas. I laid down, looking to the roof as I popped open the pill bottle mom gave me. God Shonna, why did you have to leave me? I took a pill, swallowing it without any water. I loved you, and you just left. I rolled over in my bed as a tear formed in my eye. I need you.


	4. Feather Shocker

***** I AM SO SORRY! *****

Turns out that I posted up chapter 3 instead of chapter 2

If you all read "Feather Shocker" before "Flirts and Fights" then you have skipped a chapter.

Once again, I apologize, and I have just fixed it. I hope you like the story! And remember, reviews are nice x3 3

**!WARNING!**

_**This chapter contains graphic imagery and my not be suitable for all readers. This may be over the rating of PG-13, but I don't think it's as bad as it could be. Please, just keep in mind, portions of this chapter are graphic. **_

**Chapter 3**

**Feather Shocker**

I woke up early the next morning, looking at the clock at the far side of the room. 5 o-clock. I rolled over thinking about how long I had slept. It was the first time in six months that I actually had a full eight hours of sleep. I had no nightmares, no crazy dreams, nothing at all, just a good nights sleep. I sat up in my bed, wondering if Shonna was having the same problem I was.

I got dressed, looking at the brochures that littered the coffee table in the room. One, of which, caught my eye, so I picked it up, looking at the cover. It had a giant picture of a Pidgeotto on it, and the words, _"Come see the Violet City gym leader, Falkner, battle oncoming opponents". _I flipped it open, reading the inside. It said that he would accept battles by challengers from 9am to 12pm. The battles are free of charge to watch, blah blah blah, so on, and so forth. I closed the brochure, looking over at Pichu who was still asleep on the pillow. I smiled, knowing what pokemon was going to use against a flying-type gym. I tossed the folded paper back on the table and opened the door to walk out of the room. When I went out I saw Ricky standing beside the door. "I heard you walking around so I went ahead and got up."

I didn't say anything, just looked at him. Why was he still here? Didn't I make it plenty obvious that I didn't want him to tag along with me? I started to say something when he shushed me.

"It's okay, I understand." He said. "You were having a rough day yesterday, no big deal, everyone has those days." He turned to face me. "And I also understand that you don't like me taking advantage of women, so I'll tone it down a bit when I'm with you." He then held his hand up high, motioning for a high five. He waited for a minute. "Come on man, don't leave me hangin'."

I yawned as I stretched walking by him. "So is this nurse in your room too?" I asked, not looking back at him.

"No." He pouted. "She didn't want to have anything to do with me."

"Whoa, no way." I walked up to the front counter, looking around for Nurse Joy. "The Casanova of Johto got turned down, what a pity."

He followed behind me, pulling a hand through his thick red hair. "Isn't it though? The one here is really ho-" He paused, for a second, remembering what he said to me only a few moments ago. "She's pretty cool."

I chuckled, seeing her working on the Pokehealer behind the front desk. "Nurse Joy," I said from the counter. "Could you please pour me some coffee."

"I sure can!" She said happily as she wiped some motor oil off her arms with a rag when she put down the wrench she was using. I saw Ricky's eyes get wide while he watched her wipe off the dark grease. I kicked him on the foot, giving him a harsh look as he looked away, still checking out Joy from the corner of his eye. "How would you like it?" She asked, back turned to us.

"Just like that…" Ricky said, staring a hole through her butt.

I kicked him even harder, this time making him wince.

"So you want it black?" Joy asked, turning around with a cup of hot coffee.

"Yeah, that's fine, thanks." I took the coffee, sipping on it.

"So what are you doing up so early, Joy?" Ricky asked, resting his elbow on the counter.

"Well, if you must know, I always get up this early to do my daily maintenances around the center before the trainers come here." She snapped back at Ricky, picking back up the wrench.

"Piiii!" Pichu yawned, walking into the lobby from the back room. He saw me then walk over, laying his head down on my boot. "Pii-ii-iii…" He squeaked, falling asleep on my shoe.

"Aww!" Joy squealed, running over to Pichu as I picked him up, putting him on my head. "He's just so cute!"

"He is, isn't he?" I answered as the little fuzz ball woke up again.

"Pi?" He sat up straight on my head. "Piiiii!" He yawned again. He then licked his paws, rubbing his eyes.

The nurse cooed again as I picked him up, looking him in the face. "Are you ready for today, Pichu?" I asked.

"Pi?" The mouse looked at me with half-opened eyes.

"Today you're going to win me a badge." I smiled.

Ricky and Pichu both jumped back. "Pi?!" Pichu pointed a finger to his face. "Pi, pi pi-i, pichu, chu, pi!" He cried, putting up his hands to shake them in front of his face.

"Oh, you'll be great!" I said, patting him on the head. "Don't worry, we will be training today on your thundershock a little more so by the time we fight the gym you'll be ready to whoop um'!"

"Pii…" He blushed, putting one hand behind his head.

"You're telling me that little rat is going to beat Falkner's Pidgeotto?" Ricky laughed. "That bird is strong. You shouldn't underestimate it!"

"I'm not underestimating anything." I said, holding up Pichu in the air. "This little guy has more juice than any other electric pokemon I have ever seen." I smiled, tossing him in the air and catching him, making him laugh. "Its just the key of unlocking it."

"Well I'll believe it when I see it." He said, watching the Nurse Joy walk back to the pokehealer. "When do you plan on going? It's like not even daybreak yet."

"We are going to be doing some training first." I said, placing Pichu back on my head. "Nurse joy?"

"Yes?" She said, raising up from under the counter, motor oil specks on her cheeks.

"When do you think the Pokehealer will be fixed?"

"Oh, it's not broke." She said, reaching around the counter for a screwdriver. "I'm just changing the oil, it needs to be done once every week with how much use it gets." She went back under the counter, working on the healer again. "I would say it will be ready for use in an hour."

"Alright, thanks!" I said, feeling Pichu playing around in my hair. "That's all the time we need to get Pichu ready."

"Hmph." Ricky huffed, walking to open the door. "I'll be back to watch your match."

I looked at him strange. Was he leaving? Not that I'm complaining if he was, but why is he? "Why, where are you going?"

He stopped with one foot on the door. "I do have a phone number I would like to call." He held up the ticket that Officer Jenny gave him. "Who knows, it may even lead into something else."

"Arg." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Do whatever you want."

"You should stop by some time, she told me yesterday that she had a pool table in her house. She suggested using it for something else, but I think she would let us shoot a game of pool. After all, I would love to regain my title from you." He said holding up an eight ball.

I looked at him oddly, as he put it back in his pocket. "Why do you have a pool ball?"

"It's the only time I lost at pool." He said, turning around, showing me his blood red eyes. "I stole that eight ball from the pool rink in Cinnabar that night you beat me."

"So is that why you're following me, to beat me at pool?"

"No." He laughed. "No, I only keep it around to remind me I'm not the best. But the reason why I'm following you is to see if you can really make it to the Championship League in six months."

"Hey now, I just got lucky." I said.

"Anyway, I'm going out." He turned.

"Well I'm leaving as soon as I get the badge, so if you're going to follow me you might not want to get too carried away with her." I walked up to him. "The battle will be at 9:00. You going to try to make it?"

"I'll try." He smiled, shutting the door as he walked out.

I watched him as he disappeared into the dark. I then turned back to my coffee, sipping down the last bit of it before setting the cup back on the counter. "Thanks, Joy." I said, reaching into my pocket to bring out a one-dollar bill, laying it on the table.

"Oh, the coffee is free." She said, turning the healer back on.

"It's a tip." I said, turning to walk out the door. "That coffee was great, thanks." I didn't hear her say anything as I walked out the door.

* * *

It was chilly outside, not cold, but chilly. There was a slight breeze, but it wasn't enough to make a difference for a practice battle. The sky was dark purple, showing that the sun was going to rise soon. I picked Pichu up, placing him on the ground. "Are you ready?" I asked.

"Pi…" He said doubtfully.

I didn't know quite which one I wanted him to train with. Cyndaquil, though he is strong, isn't progressing as fast as Pichu. Kabuto hasn't had any training at all, so he is out of picture, and Scyther is far too powerful for him. Heck I don't even know if he would listen to me. Arcanine could help me, I'm sure he wouldn't mind, but I really want to use my others. "Well then," I said, reaching for the last pokeball on my belt. "That only leaves one left." I threw out the pokeball, watching as the giant bee pokemon popped out.

"Beedrill!" It buzzed, floating in the air.

"Alright Beedrill, this is a training match." I said, walking between them. "I need to see what you remember about battling, and Pichu needs some training." I walked back away, sitting on a nearby stump. "Just do as I say and everything will be okay." I watched as they both began to show their fighting stance. "Beedrill, Poison Sting! Pichu, dodge using your speed!"

Beedrill flew at Pichu with one of his stingers out. I knew he could fly faster, so I guessed that he was holding some back, making sure not to hurt Pichu. Pichu quickly ran to the left, dodging the stinger the struck the ground.

"Beedrill, Fury Attack! Pichu, Double Team"

Pichu used his speed he already had from dodging Beedrill's earlier attack to jump right into a double team. He ran so fast it looked like there were two of him, then four, and then six, all of which Beedrill struck until he found which one was him. Beedrill pulled back for a final swipe.

"Pichu, Thunder Shock! Beedrill, put your stinger in the ground!"

Beedrill shoved the stinger he was going to hit Pichu with in the ground as Pichu stopped, dead in his tracks, covered in a coat of yellow electricity. He shot a beam of light from him to Beedrill, who was floating in the air with one arm in the ground. The beam of light lit up the semi dark area behind the pokecenter where we were training. For it being his first full-fledge Thunder Shock, it wasn't too bad. Beedrill stayed in the air when the shock was over. His stinger in the ground kept him grounded, and he took no damage. Pichu just looked at him, dumbfounded, seeing that his attack did nothing. Beedrill picked his stinger out of the ground, waiting for the next order.

"Pichu, great job!" I said. "You're doing great, keep it up. And Beedrill your doing great too, just as strong as the day we parted." I stood up. Watching a battle sitting down was pretty tough. "Beedrill, Double Team!"

With that Beedrill flew fast around Pichu, making it look like there were about twenty of him. Pichu couldn't believe it, he was overwhelmed by how much more powerful and faster Beedrill was than him.

"Pichu, you're going to be just as fast one day, maybe even faster." I said. "But this is a battle, don't ever lose faith in yourself or me! You have to have trust if you want to win!"

"Pi!" Pichu said, charging up, regaining confidence.

"Now, close your eyes." I spoke softly.

"Pi?" He questioned, looking at me oddly.

"Trust me Pichu or you will never win!" I screamed. "Now listen to me and close your eyes!" I scared Pichu, making him jump, but he did close his eyes. "Now, listen closely to your target. He is moving very fast, but you can catch him. Listen to the flaps of his wings. When you think you have locked on, charge up a Thundershock and hit him with all you got."

I saw Pichu stand there for a while, twitching his ears, listening to the movements of the bee. After a few seconds I saw a bright yellow light form around him. He opened his eyes, pulling his arms to his chest, then thrusting them at one of the many Beedrill around him. "Piii!" He cried out, thrusting a very large Thundershock at Beedrill.

"Beedrill, Agliity!" I cried, just in time for the Thundershock to miss, flying into the air, where it fizzled out. Pichu fell on one knee, getting its breath back, when Beedrill swooped in from the right. "Pichu! Jump backwards!"

Pichu jumped, without even thinking about the demand. That's good, that means he is finally listening to me like he should. The left stinger of Beedrill crushed into the ground Pichu was just standing at.

"Pichu! Thunder Shock again!" I called out, watching as Pichu let out another Thundershock, this time much quicker, but just as powerful. The light beam hit Beedrill again, this time making his stinger slip out of the ground, resulting in him getting shocked.

"Pichu! Stop!" I screamed, running over to Beedrill, who was lying on the ground. "Are you okay?" I asked, watching him open his eyes.

"Buzz…" He hummed, putting on a smile.

"Pi, Pichu!" Pichu ran up to his side.

"He's okay." I said, patting Pichu on the head. "But he deserves a good rest." I pulled out his pokeball, sucking him back inside.

"Chaa!" Pichu said, flopping on the ground exhausted.

"Don't get too comfy." I said, sitting up some old cans along the ground that I found in the trash beside the center . "We still have a lot of training to do before your big match."

"Piii?" He complained.

"Don't worry, this one is easy." I sat down beside him. "Your speed is great, but your attack could be better." I pointed over to the cans. "Now, see that first can? I want you to do a very small Thundershock on it. Can you do that?"

"Pi!" He said, jumping up. "Pi-Chu!" He shot a small beam of light at the can knocking it over.

"Great, now I want you to shoot the next one, this time trying to shoot it in the air and keeping it in the air by hitting it multiple times."

Pichu looked at me like he had his doubts, but he did obey my orders. He charged up, shooting a ray of light that knocked the pop can into the air, then struck it again while it was falling, popping it back up again. He did this four or five times before he missed, letting the pop can fall to the ground.

"Wow, you're doing great!" I said, patting him on the head. "You know Arcanine did the same thing when he was a puppy."

"Pi?" He looked at me wide eyed.

"Yep, he sure did." I leaned in closer to him, whispering in his ear. "And I know a certain little mouse how is doing better than he was on his first try."

Pichu's eyes lit up. "Pi, Pi, Pi?" He asked.

"Yeah, really!" I said, laughing. "But don't tell him I said that."

The next few hours passed by quite quickly as Pichu perfected his Thundershock attack, almost making it as powerful as a Thunderbolt. He was a very quick learner and used what skills he had very well. He was fast, very fast in fact, and shooting those pop cans got his aim dead on. Not only had he improved physically, but he was listening to me in battle without questioning my orders. With some more work he could be one of my most powerful pokemon on my team.

At 8:30 we walked into the pokecenter. I dropped off Pichu with nurse joy, instructing her to get him ready for the battle in thirty minutes while I checked my PC. I logged on, pushing in my ID number and password. No new mail from the police about Raticate, but I did have a new mail from mom. I opened it, seeing that it said they put Umbreon and Pidgeot back into my system in exchange for Gyarados. I closed out of my mail, logging into my PC pokemon system. As I saw, Umbreon and Pidgeot were there, but Gyarados was missing. "Well, at least they sent me a notification this time." I said, glancing over my pokemon. "Umbreon, Pidgeot, Primeape, and Dragonite are in the PC." I looked down to my belt. "And I have Scyther, Cyndaquil, Beedrill, Arcanine and Kabuto on me, with Pichu in the pokehealer." I glanced up, thinking about all the pokemon I had. "I know the next gym is a flying type, so pokemon that are slow and grounded are out of the picture. I guess I have to choose from Umbreon, for his speed, Pidgeot, for his aerial, Dragonite, for his power and flight, and Beedrill for his speed." I then looked at Pichu who was fast asleep in the pokehealer. "And Pichu will be my main fighter." I thought about all of this. Most gym leaders use a three-on-three battle to give out a badge. Pichu will be there to take down his Pidgeotto, but as far as the other ones go, I don't know. I can have Arcanine as a backup, just incase something goes wrong, but I really want to see if Beedrill can still hold up in a match. I know it's a risky move, seeing as how he's a bug type, but I think it will be okay.

I closed out of the system. All the pokemon I wanted to use were already in my party, so there wasn't any need to withdraw any. I walked over to the nurse, watching her read Pichu's bio-feed back on a computer monitor beside the healer.

"You're Pichu has really gained a lot of EXP in a short amount of time." She said, looking at me. "How did you do that? Did you feed him rare candies or any vitamins?"

"Nope." I said, watching as he slept. "I don't believe in those things. Pichu has been in my party for a very long time, and has watched many battles. I always knew he was strong, but it wasn't till I started training him today that I really saw it. He picked things up so fast, it was like he was born knowing some really high powerful attacks."

"Did you breed him yourself?" Nurse Joy asked.

"No." I shook my head. "The egg was given to me by…" My heart sunk. My breath was gone. I felt myself go pale.

"Are you okay?" Joy asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I shook off my inside illness. "Yeah, I'm fine." Why is it every time I think of that girl this happens to me? "He was given to me when he was an egg by a friend, who got him from a daycare center in Kanto."

"Oh." She looked back to Pichu. "So he is an orphan?"

"No, not entirely." I leaned up on the counter. "His mother came with us, she stuck with my friend and Pichu came with me. The father on the other hand, I have no idea who he is."

The clock in the far room dinged, signaling 9 a.m. "You better hurry." Joy said, getting Pichu out of the healer. "Your battle is about to start." She handed me Pichu.

"Thanks." I said, picking the mouse up, putting him on my shoulder.

"Wish the gym leader good luck for me!" Joy said as we were walking out the door. "He's going to need it if he is going to be fighting the League Champion, after all!"

I stopped, one foot out the door. How did she know that, I didn't tell her, did I? I turned to face her, about ready to question her.

"I knew cause of your friend." She said.

"He's not my friend, he's more of a tag along." I turned back around, walking out.

* * *

"Give me a beer." Conner said, sitting at the bar counter.

"Aren't you a little young to buy a beer, kid?" The bartender said, walking around to him.

"I don't know, am I?" Conner pulled out an ID from his pocket, sliding it on the counter showing the bartender. "Like I said, a beer. Make it cold."

"Hmph." The bartender chuckled, looking at his red cape that was draped over the floor under him. "Whatever you say, cape man, as long as you can pay." He turned around, filling a mug up with some ice-cold beer. He sat it down, sliding it to Conner, who caught it while it was sliding.

Conner looked at the glass as it started to frost on the outside. He picked it up, taking several chugs before sitting the massive glass back down on the counter. "Hey Bartender." He said, putting twenty dollars on the table. "For the beer, and open up table seven for me."

The bartender took the twenty as he started to fiddle with some change.

"Keep the change." Conner said, walking to pool table seven with his beer in one hand, grabbing a pool stick in the other. He racked the table, placing the cue ball in the center of the invisible starting line. He shot, sinking three balls in all different pockets.

"You're pretty good." A woman in a black leather mini skirt with tore panty hose came up to him, sitting on the table, crossing her legs in front of him. "I could really go for a man like you." She leaned in close to him, rubbing one hand on his face. She pushed her breast on him. "What do you say we take this game into the back room?"

"What do you say that you take your mitts off my wallet?" He glanced up, staring the woman in the face with his eyes that were fixed in such a way that shot fear into her. She backed up, placing his wallet back in his pocket. Conner said nothing, just stared the woman down, looking like he was going to kill. He heard something, someone behind him, but he knew that if he took his eyes off of her she'd try something. He waited till the footsteps got closer. When they were right on him, he reached into this pocket, pulling out a switchblade. He pushed the button while he reached with the other hand around the person's neck that was creeping up behind him. He pulled him down, squeezing the man's neck in his arms while he held the knife to his throat, the whole time still staring down the woman. "And what do you think you're doing?" Conner asked in a deep dark voice, pushing the blade slightly into the man's neck, blood dripping to the floor. "I'm sorry that I'm wise to your stupid tramp trick, but if you don't want to die I suggest you get out of here."

"What are you going to do kid?" The man said, reaching into his pocket for his knife. "Kill us?"

"If you don't put that knife down I will." Conner replied, still looking at the woman, who stood there speechless.

The man grit his teeth, thrusting the knife at Conner's back. Conner moved, releasing the man and dodging his blow as the man fell to the ground. Ricky kicked his hand, throwing the knife under a nearby pool table. He kicked the man in the side, turning him over.

"Get out!" Conner said, grinding his teeth. He dodged to the left, hearing footsteps behind him. Luckily the dagger that the woman thrust at him missed. He raised up his arm, striking her in the back, knocking her to the ground. "I'm not telling you again." Conner said in an even scarier voice than before. "Get out, or die!"

The two struggled to get up, stumbling over to another pool table. Conner turned his back, returning to his game. His pool stick was knocked to the ground during the fight, so he put the toe of his shoe under the stick, kicking into the air where he caught it. He squatted down, lining up his shot when he saw in the reflection of his beer mug the man from before running at him with a pool stick. "Ah…" He sighed. "Can't say I didn't warn them." He shot the ball, then leaned down on the table as the man swung the pool stick, missing him. Conner rolled over under the man, knife still in hand. The man looked into Conner's eyes, knowing that he was left wide open for an attack. Conner held his knife tight as he thrust it into the man's neck, slicing his atom's apple. Conner smiled, watching the man cough up blood. It dripped on his face. He pulled the knife to the left hard, slicing through the rest of the skin, almost detaching the head. The man fell to the ground, bubbling in blood as his headless body struggled to breath.

"What a pity." Conner said, looking around to see that the only two people in the pool hall was the bartender and the hooker, whom where both speechless. He wiped the blood off his knife with a rag that was in the dead man's pocket. "If you two hadn't seen that I could of let you live." He saw the bartender reach slowly under the counter. Conner flipped the knife in his hand, blade facing towards him as he threw the knife at the man with enough force to push the blade through his skull, killing him instantly. He walked up to the hooker, picking up the dead man's knife as he held it to her bra strap. She backed up against the wall, shaking in fear as he sliced her left bra strap. He looked at her, staring into her eyes as he drug the knife across her chest to the other strap. "But, hey, I can still have my fun with you before you go, my little flower."

* * *

"Falkner!" I yelled as I threw open the doors of the very small gym, seeing that it had a sunroof that covered the whole gym. The floor was sandy and dirty, I'm guessing to give him an advantage when he used a sand attack, or gust.

"Yes?" He asked, sitting on a throne overlooking the gym. He was young, maybe even as young as me. He had dark green hair that looked a lot like Ricky's, and was wearing what looked like a light gray samurai get up.

"I'm here to battle you for a gym badge!" I yelled, holding a fist up in front of me confidently.

"Pi, Pichu!" Pichu mimicked me.

"Man, clam down." Falkner said, standing up. "You don't have to be so dramatic."

"Sorry," I said, putting a hand behind my head. "It's been a while since my last gym battle, I'm just really excited."

"Well then I guess you know how it works." He walked to a pedestal that stood high above the gym. "Seeing as how you have fought in a gym battle before." He pushed a button, opening the sunroof to expose an open gap in the ceiling. "Your pedestal is over there." He pointed to the other side of the gym, above the battlefield. "Take the elevator up."

"Don't take the stairs." Ricky yelled from above. I looked up to see a row of bleachers over looking the battlefield. "They suck!" I saw Officer Jenny wrapped under one of his arms. She had her legs crossed, putting one hand on his chest as she laid her head on his shoulder.

I shook my head, walking over to the elevator, riding it up to the floor with bleachers and the over hanging pedestal. I walked over to the platform. "Woo!" Ricky yelled. "Go Kyle! Yeah!"

"This will be a three-on-three battle, I can't change out. If you win you get a Zephyr Badge, yada yada yada." The gym leader spoke fast. "Ready your first pokemon!" He threw out a pokeball, as a Fearow flew into the air in front of me.

"Frrrrooooowww!" It crowed.

"Alright." I said, readying my pokeball. "Go Beedril!"

Beedrill buzzed out into the air. "Buuzzzzzz!"

"Hahaha!" Falkner laughed. "Wow, are you sure you had a gym battle before?" He pointed to Beedrill. "Even novices know better than to use a bug against a bird!"

I smiled, knowing that I was getting the advantage in this battle, he has already lowered his defenses. "Beedrill, double team!"

"Bee!" He buzzed, quickly turning into about fifty beedrill. They quickly flew all over the room, buzzing by Fearow, swarming all over it.

"Now, Poison Fury Attack!"

With that all the Beedrill turned to face Fearow, getting poison ready in all of their stringers.

"Fearow! Use your drill peck!" Falkner screamed, knowing that he had underestimated the speed and power of my bug-type.

The Fearow spread its wings, flapping them vigorously as it spun into a small, but fast, tornado. It flew down, making its beak point out at the bottom vortex. Once it was ready, it swooped up, at a swarm of on coming beedrill. The bird flew fast, piercing his beak into one, then two, then three, all the way up drilling into about thirty Beedrill, all of which vanished on impact. The Fearow stopped in the air, looking a little disoriented from all the spinning.

"Now!" I called out. "In the neck!"

Suddenly all the Beedrill disappeared, showing one flying fast and hard into Fearow's neck. He punctured the bird with all three stingers, filled it with poison.

"Crrraaa!" The bird cried out in pain as Beedrill flew right back into the double team, making fifty of him once more.

"Fearow!" Falkner called. "Don't give up, use a whirl wind!"

The bird, badly poisoned, struggled to lift its wings.

"Beedrill, scatter now!"

Beedrill made his doubles fly off in all different directions, forming a sphere of bugs around Fearow. With one last attack the bird flapped his wings, making a whirl wind attack that knocked all the Beedrill away from it, making them all vanish.

"Now!" I called out, watching as the real Beedrill flew from the blinding part of the sky where the sun was shining, smashing down with a powerful poison sting onto Fearow's head. The bird fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Damn!" Ricky yelled out. "Right on! Kick his samurai wanna-be butt!" I said nothing, just rolled my eyes thinking how dumb he really was.

"Hmph." Falkner groaned, recalling his Fearow. "I have never lost one of my birds to a bug." He spat, readying his next pokemon. "This next one wont lose."

"Neither will this one." I grinned, recalling Beedrill, reaching for the ball around my neck.

"Go Murkrow!" The black bird flew from its pokeball, soaring around the sky before landing on one of the palm trees below. I looked down, seeing the greenery that I didn't notice before.

"That's great." I whispered. "I can use those to my advantage."

"So where's YOUR unstoppable pokemon?" Falkner grinned.

"Right here." I said, releasing Arcanine onto the battlefield below us. He stood strong looking at the crow in the tree.

"Murkrow, start off with your pursuit!" Falkner demanded.

"Krow!" The bird flapped its wings, diving in fast towards Arcanine.

Arcanine waited till he got closer before he made a move. When Murkrow was right on him Arcanine opened his mouth wide as the tiny bird flew into his mouth.

"What the?" Falkner screamed, looking over at the tail feathers sticking out of Arcanines mouth.

Ricky and I started dying laughing, watching Arcanine's cheeks start moving as the bird tried to break free.

"Don't just laugh!" Falkner pointed at me. "Get my bird out of that dog's mouth!"

I stood up, wiping a tear from my eye. "You heard him boy, spit it out with a Flamethrower attack."

Arcanine raised his head high, sucking in air with his nose as he opened his mouth blowing flames everywhere. The bird flew out, landing on the ground, knocked out, burning feathers and all.

"Woo-Hoo!" I heard Ricky yell. Once again, I rolled my eyes. I really wish he would just stay quiet.

"Man," Falkner said, recalling his burnt bird. "I have never seen that in a pokemon battle before."

"You'll learn that I'm full of surprises." I grinned, nodding to Pichu who was on my shoulder. "You ready?" I whispered. "His next one is his strongest, you know, the one you're going to take down?"

"Pi!" He grinned, pushing a little static through his cheeks.

"I hate to tell you," Falkner grinned. "But this one is my most powerful one." He threw out his last pokeball, releasing a Pidgeotto that was as large as a Pidgeot onto the field.

"Geeeeot!" The bird flapped, gusting a wind of dust around the field.

"Pichu." I whispered. "When you do your double team bounce off the trees."

"Pi." He nodded, running to the elevator. He look up at the button, jumping to reach it, but couldn't. He turned back to me with a pitiful look on his face. "Pi, Pi Chu." I chucked, walking over to the door pushing the button for him. "Pi chu!" He grinned, running on the elevator, this time jumping and reaching the down button. I walked back to the overhanging platform. The elevator chimed as Pichu ran onto the field. "Pichu!"

Falkner looked at the tiny mouse. "Hmph." He snorted. "I don't know if your trying to toy with me or what, but this battle will be mine. I wont lose."

"I'm not toying with you." I grinned, knowing my next comment would blind him with anger. "I just know that my little mouse can take you down." I shrugged. "I mean, come on. A bug took down your Fearow, a grounded pooch took down your Murkrow with one hit, and it's just not looking too good for you. I want to give you a chance, I thought you would be happy to see my mouse on the field."

Even from as far away from him as I was, I could see his face turn red in anger. "What are you trying to say about my pokemon?"

"Oh, I'm only saying what was evident in the battles." I shrugged. "But if you don't want to admit it, that's okay. I mean, after all, the first stage is always denial."

"Oohhh! Burn!" Ricky yelled from behind me. I swear, if he interrupts one more time I might just call Beedrill out on him.

I saw a vein rise up on his forehead. "PIdgeotto!" Falkner yelled. "Use a gust attack on that rat!"

"Pichu!" I screamed. "Dodge left, into the grass!"

Pidgeotto flapped its wings, blowing up a small tornado. Pichu jumped to the left, missing the gust attack, and hid in the grass until the winds settled.

"Wait for it to show itself," Falkner demanded. "When it does, drill peck it!"

I watched as Pidgeotto scanned the grass, looking for Pichu. When the time was right, I put our plan into motion. "Now Pichu!"

Pichu ran fast, jumping on the trunk of a tree, jumping over to another one, working his way up till he was on top the tree. After that, he stayed there.

"Now!" Falkner yelled with a grin on his face.

Pidgeotto flapped its wings virtuously, spinning itself into a tornado with hits beat at the vortex. It flew straight at Pichu, who was still standing on the tree. I didn't say anything, watching as the bird flew closer and closer.

Ricky jumped up. "Don't just stand there! Do something!"

The bird flew full force into Pichu, pushing its beak through his stomach. But, instead of falling or acting hurt, Pichu vanished. "Now!" I screamed, watching Pichu fall from under Falkners platform on top of Pidgeotto's back.

"Piiiiiiii!" Pichu screamed, releasing a thunderbolt onto the flying bird.

"Crraaa!" The bird called out, falling to the ground, knocked out.

Pichu, happy for his first gym battle victory, jumped off the fallen bird's back. "Pi, Pi chu!" He squeaked happily, holding up one arm in victory.

"Congratulations." Falkner said, recalling his Pidgeotto. "You have won the Zephyr Badge. How? I don't know. But you have." He threw the badge at me as I caught it in the air. I pulled it down, looking at the two folded over wings on it.

"Thanks for the battle!" I said, walking over to the elevator.

"Yeah, whatever." Falkner muttered, walking back to his throne.

* * *

"That was so choice, man!" Ricky said, wrapping his arm around me as we walked out of the gym. I brushed him off, seeing Jenny still clinging to him like a love struck teenager. "Man, you smoked him! A lot better than I did." He nudged me. "But hey, what do you expect from a Pokemon Master?"

We walked into the parking lot, where I saw a police motorcycle parked. "Well, baby." Ricky said, grabbing Jenny by the waist, twisting her around, hugging her close. "Looks like I need to head out of here."

"Oh Ricky…" She said, staring into his blood red eyes, as they pulled closer for a kiss. I shook my head walking off. Its not that I found kissing gross or anything, but man, they had only knew each other for a few hours. And lord, I don't even want to know what they did when they went back to her house. The thought made me cringe.

I stopped walking, hearing Jenny's bike start. I turned just in time to see her drive beside me, letting Ricky get out from the side passenger seat. "Ricky," She said. "If you're ever back in town…"

"I know baby." He said, giving her a wink. "Don't worry, I'll come back for you." I saw her sigh as she drove off. "My God!" Ricky yelled. "What a control freak!"

I looked at him oddly. "What are you talking about?"

"Man, I know she's a cop, but she is so demanding in bed!" He groaned. "Don't get me wrong, handcuffs are hot, but not when they are on me."

"Gosh!" I screamed. "Is there anything else you think about besides sex?" I rolled my eyes, unlatching the pin on the back of my new badge.

"Sorry." He said, placing a hand behind his head. "It's going to be hard for me not to talk about that stuff around you. I'm just so used to it you know?" I didn't say anything as I opened my jacket, revealing my eight badges from Kanto as I added my new one to them. "Wow!" He said, as I put my jacket back down. "How many badges do you have?"

"Nine now." I continued walking to the pokecenter.

"I guess those were from Kanto, right?"

"Yep." We walked into the center. The clock on the far wall said 9:45am.

"Are we heading out of here soon?" Ricky asked, tagging along behind me as I dropped my pokemon off at the healer.

"Yep." I said, watching the lights signal that they were all healed. They didn't take any damage, but it couldn't hurt to have them checked on. "I plan on training Arcanine while we are on our way to Azalea Town."

"Yeah, that's a long trip. It took me about a week to walk all of that when I came through here." He said walking around to the hallway. "If we're leaving I guess I should go get my stuff packed up."

"Yeah…" I mumbled, taking my pokemon. "Thanks Joy."

"No problem!" She smiled. When Ricky was out of sight she leaned in to me. "You really don't like him do you?" She whispered.

"Not at all." I sighed, walking over to the PC system. I plugged in my information, watching as my screen came up. No new mail, and no new transactions. Oh well. I really hoped that they find Raticate soon, but at this rate I think I might as well give up. I looked at my party. It was nice having Beedrill for a change, but I think I wanted to put him up. There were so many new pokemon in Johto, I would like to have a free spot if I ever ran into one that I might want. I plucked Beedrill off my belt, placing him on the deposit unit. I watched as the ball vanished, logging in his information and data on my account. I logged off, turning off the screen.

"All ready to go." Ricky said, walking up behind me with his book bag full.

"I need to get my stuff." I walked by him, heading to my room. I gathered all my things, stuffing them back up in my bag when I noticed the door open. I leaned up to see Joy standing there. "Hey," She said, holding out her hand. "Give me the key to your room. I already signed you out, so sneak out the window when you get packed up."

I looked at her strangely, not knowing what to say.

"You know, so you can get a head start, giving you some leeway if that loser wanted to chase you." She smiled.

I grinned, zipping up the last zipper on my back pack. "Thanks joy." I tossed the key to her as I opened the window. I crawled outside, putting on my helmet and gloves as Pichu did the same thing. "You ready bud?" I asked, watching as he gave me a thumbs-up.

"Pi-chu!" He grinned.

I pushed the button on the capsule that was in my jacket pocket, throwing it out on the ground as it puffed into my bike. I opened the lid, sliding in as Pichu took his cup holder. We fastened the lid shut as we took off, speeding down the road, and soon, out of town.

* * *

"My God!" Ricky said impatiently. "I have had girlfriends that get ready faster than him."

"I'm surprised you have had a girl stick with you long enough to be considered a 'girlfriend'." Joy said, brewing up a fresh pot of coffee for the trainers that might come in.

Ricky looked up at the clock. "10:30? Man, it's been almost an hour." He groaned, standing up from the seat he was sitting in.

"Where are you going?" Joy asked.

"To check on Kyle." He motioned, going in the back hallway. He walked up to my door, giving it a knock. "Hey, Kyle?" He said, pounding on the door. "What's up, you die in there or something?" He waited a while, with no reply.

"Oh!" Joy said, walking up behind him. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you, he already left."

"What?!" Ricky gasped, turning around to face her. "What do you mean he already left?"

"Well, I guess it was about an hour ago." She put a finger to her chin. "Yeah, he signed out and walked through the door when you were busy chatting with that school girl that came in."

"Crap!" He screamed, running for the door. He ran outside, reaching for Dodrio. He threw her out, climbing on her back. "Come on, we got to catch up!" He said, pointing her down the road as they took off.

* * *

Conner watched the pokecenter. "Hmph." He grinned. "Once again, the boy is running faster than I can catch up." He walked into the center, not seeing Nurse Joy around anywhere. He walked over to the PC in the corner of the room, pulling out a laptop with a cable uplink hooked into it. In today's day and age laptops were easy to come by, but one built just for hacking PC Systems, not so common. He plugged up the free end of the data cable into the transfer unit. He turned on the PC, watching as the screen on his laptop lit up with green numbers that flew across it.

* * *

Data Base 1100100111001010100010

Conner Log In

Password -- ********

Loading

Access Approved

Entry Data Follow

* * *

Day 186/10:47Hours

Course Of Action --

Item Retrieval/Inside PC System

Item Deposit/Inside System

Item/File Name --

Deposit 2 – ITEM – Beedrill

Deposit Location --

U:/exp1/stem/CrioNo003

Connect Directly To Location U:/esp1/stem/CrioNo001

Required Statements 1 --

Retrieval Of Specimen 002

Required Statements 2 --

Acquired On Location: Johto/846538/2489/PCsystem

Required Statements 3 --

Other Specimens Locations Currently On Move: Currently In Pursuit

Conner Log Off

Password -- ********

Loading

Transaction Ended

Good Day Conner

* * *

Nurse joy walked back in the room from the hall way, locking the door Ricky forgot to do as she saw a figure walk out, cape blowing in the wind.


	5. Speed Training

**Chapter 4**

**Speed Training**

A television screen kicked on in the dark laboratory. It was overlooking the entire room, watching every move that was made. "Progress report!" Conner screamed from the monitor. He was on the screen, wearing a white mask.

"Um, yes." A scientist walked up in front of the screen. He was wearing a white long jacket with a large red 'R' on the back, and on both shoulders. "The retrieval was a success, as well as the cryogenic sleeping tube. Both pokemon are alive and healthy."

"And of the project?" Conner demined in hateful voice.

"Well, sir." The man spoke. "We need the other cryo-tubes filled before the project can be fully awakened to it's full po-"

"Don't you think I know that already!?" Conner screamed once more. "What of the project's progress, you nit whit?"

"Yes sir. Sorry sir." The man bowed in sorrow. "The project is showing the first signs of life. It is moving along well."

"Thank you doctor." The screen went blank.

The scientist looked around the room at the Raticate and Beedrill that were floating in the cryo-tubes. He walked by them, placing a hand on the one in the center of the room. This one had all sorts of tubes and wires leading to it from the other cryo-tubes, as well as a small little speck in the middle. The scientist let out a deep sigh. "I hope to God we know what we are doing."

* * *

"Come on, boy!" I screamed back behind me, watching Arcanine in the side mirror of the bike struggle to keep up. "You can do better than that!" I twisted the handle on the bike, pushing the speed up to seventy miles an hour. I looked again in the side mirror, seeing Arcanine running as hard as he could, trying to keep up. I should have taught him this move long ago, but I never thought he would need to use it. I mean, Extreme Speed does seem to be a useless move it if he could already use higher level attacks like Flamethrower, Heatwave, Fire Blitz, Dig, and others that he learned over time. But, what the heck? If he can learn it, I guess I should teach it to him. "Come on!" I screamed. "You can do it! I know you can!" The next time I looked in the mirror I saw that he was right on my tail. I smiled watching as he ran beside me. "Alright." I said. "No holding back, give it your all." I threw the bike into a lower gear, taking off like a speeding bullet. I quickly went from 70mph to 120. I looked in the mirror again, seeing Arcanine slowly sinking into the distance. I slowed down a bit, giving him some leeway. When I was at 100mph, I looked back again, seeing him start to gain on me. "My gosh." I said to myself with a smile. "He is defintely using Extreme Speed. I'm going 100 and he's catching up to me." I thought for a second, wondering what his limit was. I waited for a minute, keeping the speed at 100 until he caught up. "Okay boy." I screamed. "You're doing great! But, I'm not playing around any more." I turned my head to look at him. "Catch me if you can!" I gassed the bike, making it speed up to 160. Once again Arcanine faded into the distance, but as if he was child not knowing his own limits, he began to gain on me. "No way!" I said, waiting on him to gain on me more. I grinned, pushing the bike as fast as it would go, all the way to 195mph. The bike was red lining, and the engine was getting hot. I turned my attention from the gages to look behind me, not seeing Arcanine at all. "Well," I said. "I guess I know his limits." I turned back around, almost screaming in shock as I saw Arcanine running full speed in front of me. I couldn't believe it; he was actually running faster than my bike could go. But quickly, he lost speed, slowing down dramatically. He tripped when he was slowing down, tumbling on the ground. I slammed on the brakes, swerving the bike around, almost losing control. I slid to a stop, driving back to where Arcanine was. I jumped off the bike and ran over to his side. "Are you okay?" I asked, pushing on his side.

"Ar… Ar… Ar…" He huffed, out of breath. His eyes were closed, and he looked really bad off.

"Hang on boy." I said, putting down my book bag. I quickly dug out a Full Restore, some bandages as well as some rubbing alcohol. "Okay boy, you need to tell me where it hurts." I pushed on his front leg, feeling if any bones were broke. When he didn't say anything I moved to the other leg, feeling from the top down to the bottom. When I get to his foot he winced.

"Arrr..." He whined.

"It's okay." I said, petting him. "Let me look at it." I flipped over his paw, feeling all the bones. It didn't seem to be broken, maybe sprang, but that would be all. "It's okay. Nothings broken, you'll be better in no time." I looked around, grabbing some sticks that were laying on the ground beside us. I picked them up, putting them on either side of the hurt foot, sprayed the Full Restore on it, and then wrapped some bandages around it. I stood up, trying to help when Arcanine struggled to stand.

"Arr…" He whimpered, limping on his hurt foot.

"I'm so sorry." I said, hugging his neck. "I didn't mean to hurt you, boy." I pulled away as he gave me a lick on the face. "Well I'm glad to see you're not mad at me. But," I reached for the pokeball around my neck. "I think its time that you take a rest for a while." I pushed the button, sucking him back inside.

* * *

Conner watched from the bushes as Kyle recalled his famed Arcanine. He was lucky that he knew all these short cuts, after all, they where the reason he was able to get in front of Kyle. He put his binoculars away, bringing out his laptop. He scrolled through the data on the operating testing units back in the lab. "Damn." He groaned. "The next type needed for our project is flying, and it appears like I will need it in roughly three days." Conner glanced up, watching Kyle put his bike away. "This would be such a good opportunity too. With his Arcanine already damaged, he would be easy to apprehend." Conner shut the lid to his laptop, standing up. He bent down, picking up his mask, slipping it on his face. The mask was white, with red lines on it for detail, some slits for the eyes, and a large square cut out for the mouth and chin. "Oh well." He flipped his cape as he walked away. "There will be many more opportunities to steal his mangy mutt."

* * *

I put my bike up, looking ahead to see that I was only a few hundred yards away from the entrance to Union Cave, which, according to the navigation system, was the only way to Azalea Town. I looked to the sky, seeing that it was already getting late. If my guessing was correct, it was about 5ish. I looked around, seeing a heard of wild Quagsire swimming up the stream beside me. "Well, since I'm already here." I reached for the pokeball around my waist, throwing out Scyther.

"Scy…" Scyther stood there, looking at me with his arms crossed.

"Lets do some training." I said, walking up beside him. He gave me a weird look as I pointed to the group of Quagsire floating in the water. "Lets try to fight one of them."

"Scy…" He huffed, turning his back on me.

"Oh well…" I sighed. "It's sad, really." I said, turning away from him. "A strong Scyther like you is afraid of such a puny little Quagsire."

"Scyther!" He spun around to face me, swinging a sword in the air.

"Oh its okay." I turned to look him in the face, knowing I had him where I wanted. "I know you're a coward." I saw his eyes open wide, then squinted closed as a vein showed on his head. "Don't worry about it bud." I laughed. "I have lots of other pokemon that are stronger than you. I guess I can just get one of them to do what I want." I held up his ball, only to have him smack it out of my hand.

"SCYTHER!" He screamed, buzzing into the air.

"Oh wow!" I said. "The big baby has an attitude, aww, how sweet." I cooed, which made him even madder. "You know, if you don't hurry those Quagsire are going to get away." I pointed over to the group that was almost out of sight.

Scyther looked to them, then back to me, huffing before flying off. He flew straight into the group head on, letting his swords slightly skim the water.

"No, Scyther!" I called out. "Don't go for the front! Go behind, taking the smaller ones out first!"

"SCYTHER!" He screamed at me, still flying straight for the Quagsire.

I put my hand to my head. "Oh well, I guess this will teach him a lesson."

Scyther kept flying at the Quagsire, who stopped swimming. Scyther raised one of his swords, ready to swing. Right before he did all the Quagsire opened their mouths, letting out massive Muddy Water attack. The attacks hit Scyther hard, pushing him into the air. The mud clung to his wings, disabling his flight. He plummeted to the ground, covered in mud.

I walked over to him, kneeling down beside him. "Scyther, bud." I started, watching him glare at me. "I only said that stuff to get you to fight for me. There was no other way you would." I ran a wet rag over his wings, cleaning them off. "You are very strong, but if you don't listen to me in battle you won't win, even against the weakest enemy." I walked to the stream, ringing the rag out as I soaked it again. I walked back over to him, cleaning him more. "I really do care about you, and in a battle I can help. I can see things you can't. I can see behind you, in front of you, and I can even see the next attack before you can." I saw Scyther's eyes go from hate back to normal. "When I call out the next attack, I already know what it does, how it works, and what to do to counteract it. I am there to help you… if you will only listen to me." I wiped the rest of the mud off of him, giving him a smile as we stood up. "It's okay, though." I placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's going to take some time for us to know and trust each other, but I really can help if you listen to me." Scyther walked away, heading for his pokeball that was on the ground. He stopped in front of it, smacking it back to me. "Okay." I smiled, recalling him. I put him back on my belt. Though it was a rough start, I think I was beginning to make progress with him.

* * *

Ricky rode up to us on his Dodrio. It was dark by this time. It had been hours since we stopped by the river. I had Arcanine laying beside me while Scyther went out to get some firewood. I guess he could run away right now, but I don't think he would. After all, he knows that the only way he could get stronger is by sticking with me, and for now I'm using that to my advantage. Cyndaquil had already started a fire, but it wasn't very big, we needed some larger pieces, and that's what Scyther was doing. I figured it would be a good way for him to get away for a little bit and get to use his slash attack to cut up some trees.

"Man!" Ricky said, stepping into the light of the campfire. "I have been trying to catch up to you all day, how long have you been here?"

"Oh, I'd say about three, four hours, something like that." I had a pot on the fire with some stew going. It already had some wild spice roots, a few Pomeg Berries, Kelpsy Berries, Qualot Berries and Hondew Berries, all of which was found by Pichu and Cyndaquil. I still had a lot more berries they found, but certain berries and spices were the key to a good pokemon meal, as well as human. For instance, all the berries I added in, with the exception of the root, effect the pokemon in a way that makes them happy and more loyal.

"You're joking!" Ricky said, still on Dodrio's back. "You're telling me that you have been here for four hours?! How fast were you going?"

"Yep." I put some Oran berries in the pot for Arcanine's hurt foot, then continued to stir it up. "And the bike red-lines at 199mph."

"I don't believe that." Ricky said, hopping off Dodrio, only to have a foot fall into a hole in the ground. "Ahh!" He screamed, putting his foot out. He looked around seeing about fifty or sixty holes all over the ground around us. "What are these?"

"Oh yeah." I looked up and saw where he was standing. "You might want to move." When I said that Kabuto jumped out of the ground underneath him. Ricky flew backwards into the air, landing a few feet away as Kabuto crawled back to me.

"Bu- bu- to!" He squeaked happily, pushing his little claws together.

"Ahh!" Ricky got up. "Is that all you do with your time, train pokemon?"

"Well I wasn't born a pokemon master." I said, still stirring the large pot of stew.

He walked over to us, watching out for the holes in the ground. He recalled his Dodrio as he sat down beside me at the fire, rustling his red hair to get the dirt out of it.

"Arrr…" Arcanine gave him a low growl.

Ricky jumped. "Man, that dog still doesn't like me."

I pat Arcanine on the head. I didn't like Ricky either, but he refused to leave us alone so there wasn't much I could do about it. "I'm sure he'll get use to you eventually."

"Pi, Pichu!" I turned to see Pichu and Cyndaquil running back from the woods, both of them having the bags I gave them full of berries. They both ran up to me, laying the bags on the ground. "Pi, pi, chu!"

"Great job!" I said, putting on hand on Pichu and the other hand on Cyndaquil's back. Ricky saw my hand go into Cyndaquil's flames.

"My God!" He said, pointing to my hand. We all turned to look at him. "Doesn't that hurt your hand?"

I looked down to see my hand in Cyndaquil's flames. "Oh, not at all." I chuckled. "Cyndaquil and I have become really great friends. He fully trusts me and as a reaction to his trust I can touch his flames and not get hurt." I picked the bags of berries up, plopping some Grepa and Tamato Berries into the pot.

"Scy!" I heard Scyther scream as chopped pieces of wood fell from the sky beside us. The wood fell into a row, making a stack. "Scy! Scy! Scy! Ther!" Scyther screamed with every swing of his sword, stacking the wood as he threw it. When the wood was stacked he flew from the woods and landed on the other side of fire, sitting by himself. "Scyther."

"Wow! Great job!" I said looking at the stack of wood. "I don't know how you did it, but stacking the wood while you threw it, that was awesome!"

"Scy…" Scyther said arrogantly as he looked away.

I stood up putting wood on the fire, making it grow larger.

"So you're telling me that every chance you get you're training your pokemon?" Ricky asked curiously.

"Yep." I said, digging out a stack of seven bowls from my bag and filling them with soup. "And it pays off quite well." I placed a bowl in front of Arcanine. "Arcanine has learned Extreme Speed today, while Kabuto learned Dig and Water Pulse." I put a bowl in front of him. "Pichu learned Thunderbolt in the gym match this morning, and Cyndaquil's flames have grown a lot. He's about to evolve." I placed a bowl in front of them as well.

"What about him?" Ricky asked, pointing over to Scyther.

I placed Scther's bowl in front of him. "We are working on it. Right now he's a regular powerhouse, if only he would let me unlock it for him." I handed a bowl to Ricky and then set down to my bowl. "Dig in everyone, I made this stew from special berries and roots that were found around here." I leaned over to Arcanine. "And it will make your foot get better faster."

They all began to scarf the food down. Scyther seemed to really like it, while Kabuto didn't seem very interested in it. He ate it, but was sort of reluctant to it.

"Oh man!" Ricky said. "This is soooo good!"

I stood up, walking over to Kabuto. "You don't like it?"

"Bu-to…" Kabuto looked down.

"Oh it's okay." I smiled, watching the other pokemon, as well as Ricky, enjoy the meal. "Everyone has different taste." I put a finger to my chin. Lets see, Kabuto is a rock and water type. If I'm not mistaken they lived in ocean caves thousands of years ago. I looked around to the river we were beside. I searched the ground near the bank for something else to feed Kabuto. Kabuto is a shellfish pokemon, and shellfish eat dead… things from the ocean bottom. I reached my arm into the river, scooping some mucky green goo from the river. It didn't smell to pleasant, but hey, it was worth a shot. I walked over to Kabuto, placing it in front of him. I saw his eyes light up as he jumped on top of the green and brown slop.

"Buto! Buto!" He cheeped happily.

"I'm glad you like it." I smiled, making a mental note of my discovery. I walked over to the fire again, sitting down beside Arcanine when I saw Ricky stare at me. "What?" I asked.

"How did you know that it would like that?" He asked.

"I don't know." I slurped up the rest of my bowl. "Lucky guess?"

When we were done eating, and we were all full, there was plenty of soup left, so Ricky called out his pokemon to eat too. His Dodrio had three bowls, one for each head. His other two he called out, however, he only gave one bowl. His Ursaring sit by itself, eating his food while his Swampert set by Ricky, slurping her food from the bowl. Ricky said he would of called out his Steelix, but he didn't think there was enough food, or room for him.

When all the food was gone we recalled everyone but Arcanine, who was recovering quite well from his injury. I poured out the food, bagging up what berries Pichu and Cyndaquil had left, stuffing them back into my bag. I washed up the dishes in the river as I packed everything away. I then walked back to the fire, putting the last pieces of wood in the flames. Ricky already had his sleeping bag rolled out beside the fire, looking up to the sky. I rolled mine out as well, laying on the other side of the fire with Arcanine. I looked to the sky as well, seeing all the stars brighter than I had ever saw them, well almost brighter. The only night I remember them being brighter was the night with Shonna, outside of Fuchsia City, when we jumped off the bridge running from Jenny. The stars that night were magical. I felt my heart sink as I thought of her. The moon glistening on the ocean, the wind whipping a lock of blonde hair in front of her face, the way her eyes looked in that dim lighting. I closed my eyes, knowing that she was gone forever. I stood up, walking over to my bag. Ricky watched as I pulled out a pill bottle from the side pocket.

"Hey! Have you been holding out on me?" He said, jumping up at the sign of a prescription pill bottle. "Come on, what kind are they?"

"Nothing you would be interested in, druggie." I said, taking one of the pills out of the bottle, swallowing it without a drink. "But if you must know they are daily vitamins." I lied.

"Oh really?" Ricky asked, lying back down. "I never heard of them giving out prescriptions for vitamins."

"If I don't take them I can't sleep." I said, slipping into my sleeping bag.

"So they are sleeping pills."

"God Ricky, lay off!" I huffed rolling over as Pichu crawled into the sleeping bag with me.

"Hey, I was just…" Ricky spoke before he was cut off by a low growl.

"Grrrrrrr…" Arcanine snorted as embers flew from his clinched teeth.

"Fine." Ricky said, rolling over.

I sighed, thinking about Shonna. Will I ever know why that girl left me? I looked at Pichu who was already fast asleep. Closing my eyes, I slowly drifting off.

* * *

Arcanines eyes opened. He rose up, looking around. The river was flowing, but that wasn't the noise that woke him up. His eyes darted back and forth. The fire had went out, and was nothing more then smolders. He stood, his foot all better. He walked over to the pile of wood that Scyther made, seeing two pieces that Kyle forgot to put on the fire. When they were on the ashes, Arcanine coughed up an ember that ignited the wood on contact. He heard a rustle in the bushes as he turned his head to see what was going on. But, then it went silent. He turned back around, walking over to Kyle, wrapping his tail around his master. At least the fire was going again, and that gave some protection against whatever was out there. He huffed, laying his head down, still keeping his eyes opened. But, he didn't hear or see anything else for the rest of the night.


	6. A Shiny New Pokemon

**Chapter 5**

**Shiny New Pokemon**

"Yaaahhhh!" I was awoken by a large yawn. "Damn! That was a great nights sleep!" I heard Ricky stretch.

"Why must you curse?" I asked rising up rubbing my eyes as Pichu did the same. I stretched, feeling Arcanine lick my face.

"Why do you care?" Rick stood up, rubbing his head, messing up his already messy red bed head. "I've never met a guy that cared so much about stupid things like that."

"Well, forgive me for not wanting to hear foul language." I stood up as well, picking Pichu up. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Piiiii!" Pichu stretched.

I laughed, putting him on my head. "And how about you?" I asked Arcanine. "Is your foot all better?"

"Arf!" He barked happily.

"That's great!" I bent back down, putting up my sleeping bag and pouring dirt on the fire we had, putting it out.

"Where to now?" Ricky asked, patting some dust off of his striped hoodey.

"I don't know about you," I said. "But I'm going through Union Cave. It's the only way to get to Azalea Town."

"Oh, that gym is easy!" Ricky said, calling out his Dodrio. "With that Arcanine you could take it down lickety-split!"

"So it's a grass type gym?" I asked as he hopped on his three headed bird.

"No, it's a bug type." He looked over at me. "It was actually the first badge I got."

"Really?" I said as we rode our pokemon towards the cave. "How many badges do you have now?"

"I have seven." He said. "I picked up my last one from Falkner the day before I found you on the beach."

Wow, that means he only has one left to get. His pokemon must be very strong for him to win seven badges with only four pokemon. We both walked into the cave riding our pokemon, but it became quickly apparent that we couldn't make it much further. The walls in the cave became closer and closer together, making my massive Arcanine get stuck. We both hopped off our pokemon, recalling them. We didn't spend much time walking through the cave until we saw a light, but this light didn't look like day light, it looked more like light from a fire. I walked around the bin, peaking a head around the cave wall to see a group of Slugma and Magcargo all gathered together around what looked like a bubbling hotspring.

"Wow!" Ricky said as I covered his mouth, pushing him into the cave passage that we came from. The slugma looked up at where we were, but didn't see us in the shadows. When they turned back around I looked at Ricky. "Shut up, will you?" I said harshly. "I really want to catch one of those."

"Why?" Ricky said, looking at the slugma. "I was wowing over their being a girls bra over there." He started pointing to a hot spring near the slugma. I looked over to the pool where I saw a bra draped over one of the stalagmites by the water. I shook my head, looking back at him. "Stay here, okay?"

I walked off, tiptoeing down the narrow passage to the wild fire pokemon. They were all made of molten magma, and were extremely powerful fire type pokemon. As I got closer I got a better look at the slugs. In the middle of the herd was a silver looking flame. At first I didn't understand what it was, but when I got a better look I saw that it was a silver slugma! The oddly colored slugma was smaller than the rest, but I didn't care about that, it was a shiny! I knew that regardless of what pokemon it was that I could bring out its true potential, I was sure of it. I slowly took Kabuto's pokeball, releasing him on the ground. "Okay," I whispered. "There is a silver looking slugma in the group, I want you to crawl into the water and use a water pulse on it."

"Buto-o." He said as he crawled away into the hot spring.

I waited as the group started to move around again. The all seemed to know that something was going on, because they watched the hot spring very closely. Suddenly Kabuto jumped from the hot spring with a gust of water that hit the silver slugma. The other slugma and magcargo blasted very strong flamethrowers at Kabuto, but with Kabuto being a water and rock type, the attacks did nothing to him. I quickly ran out, throwing a pokeball at the silver slugma that was laying on the ground, turning to a dark gray from the water. "Water pulse the rest of them!" I screamed as the ball fell to the ground, shaking once. Kabuto jumped out of the water, shooting a water pulse at all the fire pokemon, stricking them before they could react to me throwing the pokeball. It stayed on the ground, shacking twice. The magcargo retreated into their shells, blasting flame throwers at Kabuto again, who kept shooting water pulses at them. The pokeball jumped, only to fall to the ground again, shacking a third time, and snapping shut. I quickly ran over to the pokeball, putting it on my belt and recalling Kabuto as I saw the slugma and magcargo start to get back up. I ran as fast as I could back up to Ricky, grabbing his arm. "We got to get out of here!"

"Yeah, they looked pissed!" He screamed, seeing the slow, but powerful pokemon start to follow us. We were shot at with some flamethrower attacks a few times, but luckily we made it out of the cave in one piece.

When we got out we both fell to our knees, sore from running so much. "Huff, huff." I gasped for air.

"Are you two okay?" I heard a young boy asked. I looked up to see a boy about the age of ten looking back at me. He had short black hair with a blue striped polo on.

"Yeah, thanks." I said, standing up, Ricky shortly followed.

"What are you two doing out here?" The boy asked, looking over at Ricky. "And why is his hair on fire?"

"What?" Ricky asked, looking up to see that locks of his red hair were smoking. "OH MY GOD!" He screamed, running around in circles. "My beautiful hair! My beautiful hair! It's on fire! It's on fire!"

"Calm down." I said, tossing out Kabuto, who stood on the ground with it's little claws. "Hey, Kabuto, could you use a Water Pulse on that little baby?"

"Buto!" He said happily as he sprayed Ricky, soaking him with water. "Buto-o-o-o!" He laugh, doing a little dance.

"That's not funny!" Ricky screamed, drenched from head to toe.

"Wow!" The boy said as I recalled Kabuto. "You all must be pokemon trainers, aren't you?"

I turned, smiling at him. "Yep, we sure are."

"Oh, could you please help me." The boy begged. "You see, my name is Chad, I'm the apprentice to the Charcoal Smith in town, and my Farfetch'd has ran away." He looked around. "I have searched all over and I can't find him anywhere. Can you help me please?"

Ricky walked to the kid. "We don't have time for your little-"

"Sure we can help, Chad." I said with a smile. "Where do you think it might be?"

"Well." He started thinking. "The only place that I haven't checked is the Ilex Forest, and that place is scary."

"Oh, we'll be fine." I said patting him on the head. "So where do we find this forest?"

The boy pointed into town. "If you go straight past the Pokecenter you'll see a large building. Go inside and it will lead you to the forest."

"Thanks kid." I stared to walk by him when I stopped. "So, where will you be when we find the Farfetch'd?"

"Oh, I'll be looking around here." The boy said. "But if you find it could you take it to the Charcoal Smith's house. You can't miss it, it has a big sign."

"Okay, will do." I gave him a wave with my hand as my back was facing him. Ricky and I walked away into town, leaving the boy behind.

* * *

"Are we really going to help that pipsqueak?" Ricky asked as I was getting my pokemon healed.

"Yes." I said, taking back my pokeballs from Nurse Joy. "Do you have anything better to do then help a little kid?"

"We can start by getting that badge of yours." He griped as we walked out of the center. "After all, Mr. Six Months, it's not like you have a lot of time."

"Hmph." I said, putting my pokeballs back on my belt. "Personally, I think I have plenty of time. If you have already forgot, I have traveled to six towns in less than two days. On top of that I have also got a badge in that time, and I'm working on another one." We kept walking, making our way to the large building, like the kid said.

"Lucky, that's what I say." Ricky put his hands behind his head, feeling his burned red hair. "Arrg, I don't even know why I'm hanging around you."

"Me either." I groaned.

"I mean really, within the time I knew you I have been almost beat up, left to rot in a pokecenter, and even got my beautiful hair singed."

"Oh you poor, poor thing you." I looked at him so sadly, with more than a hint of sarcasm. "Your sad life is almost enough to make me cry."

"And really, why are you so mean?" He pointed a finger at me. "Is that the reason why you have to take those pills, some kind of 'happy pill' that makes you less of an ass?"

"If you must know they are sleeping pills." I barked at him. "And, sure, I guess the same reason I'm such a butt is because of the same reason why I take those pills." I turned back around, walking through the door of the large building.

"So…" Ricky said quietly. "Is it a family member that died?"

I didn't say anything. Instead I kept walking, pushing open the next door, which lead into the forest.

"Is it a lost pokemon?" He persisted.

Once again, I didn't say anything, just kept walking.

"Well then, was it a woman?"

I spun around, giving him a look of hate. "Shut your freakin' face before I shut it for you!" I screamed, holding up a fist in front of his face.

"Okay, okay." He put up his hand defensively. "I get it, you don't want to talk about it. But hey," He smiled, wrapping an arm around me. "I know a lot about girls, if you ever want to talk about it."

"Trust me," I said, in a low deep voice of hate. "I don't need love advice, especially from you." I kept walking, not hearing another word from him. I knew he was back there, I could hear his footsteps, but he just stayed quiet. Maybe he finally started to listen to me.

We walked for about an hour before Ricky said anything, and when he did, it wasn't expected. "What's that?!" He screamed before he darted off into a patch of tall weeds to our left.

"Ricky! Wait!" I called out, I didn't know why, but I didn't really want him to get lost.

"I found him!" I heard him cry out. "I found the kid's Farfetch'd! It's running this way!" I ran through the woods, almost throwing Pihu off my head. I couldn't see a darn thing, I could hear him running, but before long, even that faded.

"Ricky!" I screamed. "Ricky!" I waited, but no answer came. "Oh well." I signed, letting out Arcanine on the ground as me and Pichu hopped on his back. "Lets sniff him out."

"Arf!" He barked as we started walking through the woods.

* * *

Conner adjusted his mask as he walked into the center. His cape blew in the breeze as the door shut behind him. Azalea town, home to the bug gym of Johto. He walked over to the PC, knowing what to do. He could wait longer, but if he did Kyle might take his Pidgeot out of the PC System for the battle, and who knew when the next change to take it would be? After all, for his project to gain life, he needed that bird soon.

Conner took out his computer, plugging the adapter port into the deposit drive in the PC.

* * *

Data Base 1100100111001010100010

Conner Log In

Password -- ********

Loading

Access Approved

Entry Data Follow

* * *

Day 187/11:15Hours

Course Of Action --

Item Retrieval/Inside PC System

Item Deposit/Inside System

Item/File Name --

Deposit 3 – ITEM – Pidgeot

Deposit Location --

U:/exp1/stem/CrioNo004

Connect Directly To Location U:/esp1/stem/CrioNo001

Required Statements 1 --

Retrieval Of Specimen 003

Required Statements 2 --

Acquired On Location: Johto/292532/8696/PCsystem

Required Statements 3 --

Other Specimens Locations Currently Unknown: Currently In Pursuit

Conner Log Off

Password -- ********

Loading

Transaction Ended

Good Day Conner

* * *

Conner shut the lid to the computer. He picked it up from the PC, placing it under his arm as he walked out. A smile came across the cut out portion of the face on the mask. "My little project is going smoothly."

* * *

Arcanine had been running for what seemed like thirty minutes or so until we caught whiff of Ricky's trail. Pichu was hanging onto my jacket as we rode on Arcanine. I could have caught up to Ricky sooner if I used extreme speed, but with all these trees in our way, that was impossible.

"Hey!" I heard Ricky yell. "Stop! Slow down!"

"Whoa boy!" I said, tugging on Arcanine's mane, getting him to stop. I listen closer. I defiantly heard Ricky, it was faint, but it was him.

"Stop running, you stupid bird!"

"Arf!" Arcanine barked, running to the right into a clearing. We jumped the bushes, landing in the open patch of grass with a large door in front of us. This place looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. "Wait!" I said, looking at the near by sigh, which read _'Welcome to Ilex, the Forest of mazes'_. "You mean to tell me we have been walking around in circles, only a few feet away from the door this whole time?!" Arcanine's ears twitched as he jumped back, bending his head down into a low growl as he faced the trail that lead into the forest.

"Pi…" Pichu ran to hide behind my head, scared of what might happen.

We waited and watched as the bush Arcanine was pointing at started to shake. "Fetch!" A large Farfetch'd jumped out, running happily around behind Arcanine, like he was playing a game.

"Get… huff huff… back here!" Ricky screamed, out of breath as he fell through the bushes.

"Far, fetch'd fetch'd fetch'd!" The bird laughed, dancing around Arcanine's feet.

"Quick!" Ricky tried to stand up, only to fall down out of breath. "Catch that thing… huff huff… before it… gets away…"

"What, that little guy?" I looked down at the Farfetch'd that stood about two and a half feed tall. It really looked puny compared to Arcanine, but for a Farfetch'd, it was a pretty big one.

"Fetch?" Farfetch'd looked up at me, and for the first time noticed there was a person setting on the massive dog pokemon. "FETCHD!" It yelled as it tried to scurry away, but before it got the chance Arcanine bent down, picking it up by the skin on his neck. The bird stayed still in his teeth as Arcanine raised it high off the ground. "Fetch'd…" It sobbed.

Ricky stood up, dusting off his black pants before walking over to me. "I hate you."

I looked at him oddly.

"I ran around this place for like thirty minutes to try to catch that thing, and all you had to do was set there, waiting for me to run it back to you." He huffed, pulling out a cell phone. "Look, its already 11:30. If you want to get that badge we have to get going." He stretched as we walked back through the doors to the city. "Besides that, I'm hungry. Lets stop somewhere and get some grub."

"Works for me." I said, still riding Arcanine, Pichu on my shoulder. "But I really don't mind spending some time here, this place seems nice."

"It's bland." Ricky commented as we walked out of the building, heading straight for the Charcoal Smith's large sign that hung over a building, near the southern portion of town. "The next town has a lot of stuff in it. Goldenrod City is like the Saffron City of Johto." He looked up at me with wide eyes. "There are skyscrapers, buildings everywhere, the best food you could ever imagine, and, my favorite…" He leaned in closer to me. "They have brothels."

"Grrrr…" Arcanine growled as Ricky leaned a little to close for his comfort.

"Yeah, that would be your favorite part." I rolled my eyes.

It wasn't long till we reached the Charcoal Smith's house. Inside we saw stacks of wood that were lying beside a large furnace. Beside the furnace stood a Magmar that was charring the wood inside the furnace, while a Scyther chopped the wood into littler pieces, then threw them into the fire Magmar was making.

"Yes, may I help you?" A large man with abundance facial hair walked toward us. He had his shirt off, and was not a pretty sight. His belly was hanging out, sweat was coving him, and his fat gut was also covered is brown hair.

"Yeah… umm… we are here to give back Chad's Farfetch'd." I said, trying not to throw-up at the man's appearance. "We found it up in the forest."

"Arrgggg…." The man groaned. "That boy will never learn to control that thing." The man then walked over to Arcanine, taking Farfetch'd out of his mouth, then placing him on the ground. The Farfetch'd looked over at the Scyther in the room, who stared at him, slowly cutting wood in an evil looking way. "Yeah, don't worry about him running away again. He never runs when he's here, he knows better."

"I'd say." I said, watching the Scyther stare him down.

"Well, thank you boys for bringing my apprentice's Farfetch'd back. I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"Well, now that you mentio-" Ricky said before I elbowed him in the side, shutting him up.

"No, not at all." I said with a smile, as I slid off Arcanine. "We wanted to look around the forest anyway." I stopped talking when I noticed the man staring at my Arcanine. "Is something wrong?" I asked.

"No, just the opposite in fact." He walked over to Arcanine, examining him closely. "This pokemon is very strong and has been raised very well." He paused again, feeling Arcanine's fur. "It's fur is so shiny, smooth and very bright. And those eyes, the eyes of a true champion. A very strong fire type." The man then walked away, behind a table. Me and Ricky just watched as he dug through some old crates, pulling out two boxes and bringing them back to us. "I have seen lots of fire types in my day, and that Arcanine of yours is by far one of the most powerful." He handed both me and Ricky a box. "Here is a little gift for the trouble of bringing back Farfetch'd. Inside is some of our world famous Charcoal." I opened up the wooden box to see a rather large charred piece of wood tied onto a black adjustable necklace. "That Charcoal is known for its ability to increase the power of fire type moves by double."

"Wow!" I said, looking at the box. "Thank you so much!" I put the box on the table, digging out my wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

"I normally sell them for $10,000 each." The man said, as Ricky's mouth dropped open. "But since you two were nice enough to bring Farfetch'd back to me, I'll give them to you free of charge."

"Wow, thank you!" I said.

* * *

"That sure is pricy for a little piece of burnt wood, don't you think?" Ricky said, looking at the wooden box that he held in his hand.

Arcanine was bended down, letting me adjust the strap of the necklace around his neck. "Well, it is a pretty cool item, if it works." I tightened the strap, getting if to fit perfect on his neck. "And it came in a pretty cool looking case too." I looked at Arcanine, who leaned up proud. "Does it fit good, boy?"

"Arf!" He barked happily before I recalled him.

"Hey, catch." Ricky said. I turned around to see the box with the Charcoal in it flying at me. I caught it, mid air, only to look at him in confusion. "Its okay, I don't want it."

"Why not?" I asked, looking at the box. "It's a great item."

"I don't have a fire type pokemon, and I don't want one." He turned away, walking back to the center of town. "I have made it this far with 5 pokemon, and that seems to be sufficient." He turned around, laughing. "One of which I have never shown to anyone, because I haven't needed too."

"So the one you haven't used is your strongest?" I asked, following behind him.

"Yeah, he's a regular power house." He laughed. Boy, his ego wasn't showing. "So, are you going to be stopping at the pokecenter before the gym?"

"Yeah, I plan on it." I don't really think that I need to withdraw any pokemon. Pidgeot, maybe, but I don't think so. I figured that this time would be a great time to train Cyndaquil and Scyther. And, I guess if I needed a back up, Arcanine could take down anything the guy could throw out.

We walked into the center. I walked toward the PC while Ricky headed straight over to Nurse Joy. Surprise, surprise. I plugged in my information, logging onto my account. No new mail, again, and no new deposits from mom. Instead I noticed that Beedrill and Pidgeot were missing. I'm guessing that mom took them out of my account. I scrolled over the ones that I had in my account. Umbreon, Dragonite, and Primeape were available. I didn't need any of them right now, at least, I guess I don't. I closed the window, logging off as I turned to see Ricky laying on the counter working his way to Nurse Joy.

"Let's talk more about Kurt's balls." He said, breathing hard as he stuck her ear in his mouth.

"Come on Romeo." I said, grabbing onto his hair. I didn't know what he was talking about, and I really didn't want to hear any more about it.

"Owe! Owe! Hey! Let go!" He whined as we walked out. When we were outside I dropped his hair, which made him fall to the ground. "Why the hell do you do that?!" He questioned, grabbing his hair. "I was trying to get information."

"What kind of information?" I asked. "Her phone number? Her address? The color of her underwear?"

"No!" He screamed. "Well… maybe… but really, there is a guy here named Kurt that makes rare pokeballs out of apricorns!"

He caught my attention. "Really?" I asked, turning my head to look at Ricky. "That would be pretty cool, but I already have too many pokemon." I turned back around, walking toward the gym. "I have so many I can't even keep up with them."

"So you're not even interested?" He stood up. "There are several balls and they all do different things."

"Nah, you can go if you want to." I stopped walking, turning around to look at him for a second, remembering when he pulled out a cell phone in the Ilex Forest. "Hey, when did you get a cell phone? I don't remember you having one yesterday."

"Oh, this thing?" He said, taking it out of his pocket. "I swiped this from Jenny when I was in her room."

"How are you able to use it then?" I asked. "Doesn't it have a SIM card in it that can be tracked?"

"Oh, I took that out. I'm smarter than that." He laughed. "When you left me to rot in Cherrygrove I bought a 'Pay As You Go' sim card from the pokemart."

"Ah… smart." I rolled my eyes as I kept walking to the gym. Great, so he's a druggy, womanizing thief, and he's tagging along with me. What could be better?

I walked into the gym, throwing open the doors. The gym was covered in greenery, and was so warm it felt like a giant green house. The sun was beating down on the grass and trees from an open roof for the ceiling. Do all the gyms in Johto have open roofs?

"Who dares inter my lair?" A non-scary voice called out. In fact, it sounded like a young boy, maybe … 8 years old? 10?

"Um… Kyle, from Veridian City." I spoke up.

The room was quiet for a while before a young boy jumped from a tree, landing in front of us. "I am Bugsy, leader of the bug gym in Azalea Town. Would you be here to challenge me to a gym battle?"

"Uh, yeah." Man, the trend in Johto must be open roofed gyms and young leaders. Both of the leaders I have seen so far have been younger than me.

"Follow me." Bugsy turned, walking on a trail to the center of the gym. When we arrived he ran to his side of the battlefield. "This will be a three on three battle for a hive badge. You many switch out, I may not." He readied his first pokeball. "I choose you, Spinarak!" The tiny spider took the field, shooting some web to the limb of a tree, and hung off the ground. Ricky took to a bench that was located behind me.

I readied my pokeball, knowing already which one I was going to choose. "Go Cyndaquil!" The fire mouse hopped on the field, his flames burning bright. It wouldn't be long till he evolved, probably in this battle.

"Spinarak!" Bugsy yelled. "Use string shot!"

"Cyndaquil!" I called. "Use that new flame wheel attack you learned!"

The strings of web shot at Cyndaquil as he covered himself in flames. When the webs hit him they were instantly burned, and fell to the ground as ashes. Cyndaquill charged, rolling into a ball of flame, and then bounced into the air, striking the spider where is swung on its web. The web it was on burned, as the Spinarak fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Nice job Cydaquil!" I called out as Bugsy recalled his Spinarak.

"Quil!" The mouse squeaked as it was covered in a bright white light. When the light diminished it stood over double the size it was moments ago. He was stretched longer, standing on his hinelegs. The flames that were once on his back were now on his head, forming a small mane, as well as on his lower back, forming a large flaming tail. "Quilava!" It cried, glairing with his fire red eyes over at Bugsy.

"Congratulations." Bugsy called out. "But this one is much more powerful than my last." He threw out his next pokeball. "Go Ledyba!"

"Bwahahah!" Ricky laughed. "That's worse than the one you used on me!"

"First time I ever lost all my pokemon to one." Bugsy groaned.

"Well, I'll switch out after this." I said, motioning to Quilava to get back over to our side. "After I test out my new Quilava." I smiled, looking at him as he walked up to me. "Great job evolving! I'm proud of you!"

"Quil…" He grinned, ribbing his head.

"Enough!" Bugsy called out. "Ledyba, use your comet punch!"

"Quilava!" I said. "Use your ember!"

The Ledyba pulled back all four of its hands, forming them into fist as they glowed white. Quilava waited till it flew closer to him, then he opened his mouth, letting out a massive ember attack, so strong that it was the equivalence of a Flamethrower. The bug fell to the ground, burned and knocked out.

"Great job, Quilava!" I screamed, running up to hug him. "You learned Flamethrower!"

"Quil?" He tilted his head.

"The ember attack you used was so strong that it turned into a flamethrower attack!"

"Pi!" Pichu said, hopping off my shoulder. He was so quiet I almost forgot he was there. He ran over to Quilava, looking up at him. His eyes got wide as he saw that he stood almost three times bigger than he was. "Piiiii…."

"Lava!" Quilava laughed.

"If you don't mind," Bugsy said, tapping his foot. "We have a battle going on."

"Shesh." I said, recalling Quilava. "Why don't you throw out your pokemon first, Mr. Impatient?"

"Fine! Go, Scyther!" Bugsy yelled as a Scyther flew in from the nearby greenery that surrounded the battlefield.

Perfect. I grinned, knowing what I was going to do. "Go Scyther!" I threw out my Scyther, who stood strong. Both Scythers looked to be about the same size and stature, but I could tell mine apart. He had scars all over his body from all the fights he had been in without a trainer, but he needs to realize that he has a trainer now. I chose him for this battle because I knew he wouldn't listen to me. I already know that without my help, he is going to lose, even though he is much stronger than the other Scyther. But, maybe this battle will let Scyther see he needs me, and I might gain his trust.

"Scyther!" Bugsy screamed. "Use your Slash attack!"

"Scyther!" I called out, watching Bugsy's Scyther's left sword go up. "Dodge left!"

"SCY!" Scyther screamed at me, encoring me. Bugsy's Scyther came flying at mine, his left sword held up high in the air. My Scyther put up his right sword in defense as the other Scyther sliced down hard, chipping my Scythers blade. "Ther!" He winced in pain.

"Again!" Bugsy yelled. This time the Scyther raised its right sword, the left still imbedded into my Scyther's right.

"Scyther!" I screamed, seeing the blade in the air ready slice at Scyther's exposed side. "Fall!"

"Scy?" He questioned.

"JUST DO IT!" I screamed.

Bugsy's Scyther swung its blade as my Scyther fell to the ground. The force that the other Scyther had on his blade threw him off balance when he fell, causing its swinging blade to strike the ground, stopping the blade. Both Scyther fell to the ground, Bugsy's on top of mine.

"Kick it off!" I screamed. Scyther did as I said, kicking it off of him having it land on the ground a feet yards away. "Great job Scyther." I said, getting him to look behind to me. "You are a lot stronger than the other Scyther, but if you don't listen to me then you're going to lose." Scyther didn't say anything, he just looked at me. "I am your trainer, and if you let me help you we can easily take down opponents a lot stronger than him." I pointed at Bugsy. "Please Scyther, let me be your eyes, let me help you."

"Scy…" He said, half heartedly, nodding at me.

"Are you done?" Bugsy asked, putting one hand on his hip as his Scyther stood up.

"Quite." I said with a smile.

"Scyther! Fury cutter!" Bugsy commanded as his Scyther flew towards mine with its arms raised high.

"Wait for it." I said, watching as the Scyther flew closer. "Wait. Stand strong." The Scyther came right up on mine, swords raised high, about to swing. "Now! Roll on your back under it!"

My Scyther dropped on the ground, rolling on its back as Bugsy's Scyther flew right over him, chest and stomach exposed.

"Now! Fury cutter!" I yelled.

Sycther swung his blades into the side and chest of Bugsy's. The Scyther fell to the ground, grabbing at its cut side.

"Now, Scyther!" I screamed. "Wing attack!"

Scyther flew at Bugsy's, which was still laying on the ground. Scyther spread his wings, having them turn silver as he held his swords in front of him. He flew faster, slicing the Scyther with both his left sword and his left wing. The Scyther fell, trying to get up, passed out.

"Great job!" I said, running up to hug Scyther. "You were so great!"

"Scy…" He wiggled to get out of my grip.

"Hey, hang on." I picked up his right sword. "Let me see your blade." I picked up his arm, examining the chipped blade. "Oh man, that is pretty bad." I looked at him. "I will stop by the PokeMart and pick of a wet rock so we can sharpen these up." He took the blade out of my hand, looking at the chipping that ran half way down the blade. "The crack will grow back , but for now we need to keep you from using that arm very much."

"Scyther." He crossed his arms, turning away from me. I didn't say anything, I just smiled. I could tell that he realized he needed me, but he was too proud to admit it.

"Congratulations." Bugsy said, tossing me badge. I caught it in the air as he walked to his fallen Scyther. "You have earned a Hive Badge. Now get out of here, you have really beat up my Scyther." He picked it up, walking into the greenery.

I smiled, pinning the badge into my jacket. "Thanks Scyther." I said, giving him a thumbs up. "I couldn't have done it without you."

* * *

Ricky, Scyther and I sat outside of the PokeMart where I just bought a wet rock knife sharpener. Pichu was running around the ground playing with a Caterpie as I ran the slab of rock over Scyther's blades, slightly peeling away slivers of metal off the blades, making them razor sharp. I had his right arm bandaged up, wrapped around with a full spray of Full Restore. When I was done sharpening his swords I put them down. "Alright, Scyther." I said, standing up. "There you go. That right arm of yours should be better in no time, but now I want to see if your swords are sharp enough." I pointed over to a nearby tree. "Slash that tree with your left sword.

Scyther flew into the air, landing beside the tree. He lifted up his arm, slicing the tree with ease. At first the tree didn't move, but as if it was in a cheesy movie, the tree had a line appeared on it, and then slid from the cut down, falling to the ground.

"Is that better, Scyther?" I screamed.

"Scy… ther…" Scythers eyes grew wide. He was so surprised. His blade was so sharp that it sliced the tree and it felt like nothing more than air. He flew back to me with a smile on his face. He landed beside me and Ricky, who had stayed quite for a long time. He gave me a smile before I recalled him.

"So that's your secret, huh?" Ricky asked, standing up and dusting off his pants.

Pichu ran up to my, jumping to my jacket and crawling up to my shoulder where he sat. "What?" I looked at Ricky oddly as we made our way to the Pokecenter.

"Your strength in your pokemon. All you ever do is train and make them the best they can be."

"Yeah." I laughed as we kept walking. "You must do that too. I mean, after all, you have five pokemon and only used four of them. You must have trained them a lot to pull that off."

"No, not really." He glummed. "You see, I tried for the League in Hoenn, but I didn't make it past the preliminaries."

"I'm sorry." I said, thinking back to when I was at the platue with Shonna, training all of our pokemon for the matches. We trained for months, perfecting every move our pokemon had. But, in the end, it really boiled down to us. That battle with her was the toughest I ever had. I knew before we started battling that day that one of use was going to be crowned pokemon master, the only thing I didn't know about, was who. It was honestly a stroke of luck that I did. If she landed one more good move in, she would have wiped the floor with me.

"But hey! That's cool." Ricky said, breaking my thoughts. "One good thing about it was that I earned eight badges their, I have seven here, and my pokemon are so strong that I don't need to worry about training."

"You know, regardless on how powerful a pokemon already is, there is always room for improvements." I said, looking at Pichu. "And sometimes the ones you never guess would be good, turn out to be one of the best."

"Pichu!" He held up his little fist, letting out a little static.

* * *

When we got in the center it was already pretty late. It was starting to get dark outside, and I knew that it would take us almost a full day to get through the forest. I healed my pokemon as Ricky flirted with joy. We both sighed into a room, taking our keys and throwing our stuff in the rooms adjacent to each other. I closed my door, flopping down on the bed, as Pichu did the same. I rolled over, thinking about all the times I spent with Shonna at the Indigo Plateau. It was hard to believe that I spent that much time with her and never even spoke a word of how I felt. My heart sunk again, making me feel a little sick to my stomach. I raised up, reaching for the bottle of water that I took for the front desk. I dug through my bag, picking out my pills, putting one in my mouth and washing it down. With how much I hated my mother at least she was nice enough to give me these. I laid back down, drifting off to sleep, thinking about Shonna's pretty face.


	7. Escaping the Forest

**Chapter 6**

**Escaping the Forest**

A silver fireball burst through Ilex Forest as we made our way through. Slugma's attacks were getting stronger, but it was still at a low level. These small ember attacks were just powerful enough to sizzle some leaves on the trees, and burn a few bushes, but that was it. After the silver flames disintegrated, the fire stopped and it didn't burn anymore.

We had left the center in Azalea early, and had been walking in the woods for hours. Every now and then I would bring out my bike, check the navigation system to see if we were going the right way, and then continue down the trail. If my calculations were correct it would take us pretty much a full day to get through the forest.

All this time in the woods, however, did come in handy. Not only was I able to train Slugma, which was coming along quite well, but Scyther has really started to listen to me. He also fully recovered from the battle yesterday. His sword wasn't chipped, and I sharpened them again before we left. I finally found something that he really likes me to do for him. When I sharpen his blades he seems so happy, even though he is too arrogant to show it, I knew.

Syther was following behind Slugma, slicing what the fire did not consume. I walked behind him, and behind me walked Ricky followed by his Ursaring, who made sure our backside was protected. These woods were so thick that all the trees blocked out the sun, which made it very hard to see, but the sliver flames shooting from Slugma did help.

All of this time we had been walking was kept in silence. I don't know, but for whatever reason Ricky kept his mouth shut. Not saying that I was complaining, after all, he wasn't much of a conversation. All he ever wanted to talk about was getting into some girl's pants. But this time of silence gave me some time to think. I thought about many things, Shonna, Articuno, Raticate, and the other pokemon at the lab on Cinnabar. I hoped they were doing okay, the pokemon anyway. I really worried about them. Well, I guess I worried about Shonna as well, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt … nothing. I knew that I loved her, but she obviously didn't feel the same for me. I knew that she did what she had to. She probably thought that she would only hurt me if she kept it going on. Hanging around with a guy she didn't like, while he fell more and more in love with her. Or, maybe I was looking at it the wrong way, maybe she didn't know that I loved her, maybe she was just leaving because she didn't know what else to do.

But, regardless of what happened, the fact is that I am getting over her. I know that I could never patch the hole that was in my heart from her, but she's gone. There is nothing more I can do. But there is something I could do about Articuno. I could chose to train it, I could let it go, I could do lots of stuff, but whatever I do I don't want to leave it in that lab. The pokemon deserves to be free, not cooped up. Either that or it should be trained. If I could control it, it would be a great pokemon. Though, I don't think I should ever keep it in my party for too long, or use it for that matter. Heck, like Oak said, _'If any one saw it they would kill you.'_ I will admit, that almost scared me, but I knew it was true. So many people have already died because someone wanted that pokemon, one more wouldn't make a difference.

"Hold up." I said, watching Slugma, Scyther, Ricky and Ursaring stop. I reached into my book bag, pulling out my bike, throwing it on the ground. I raised the hood, looking at the navigation system.

"How far are we to the end?" Ricky spoke up from his eight or so hours of silence. "We have been walking forever!"

"Saring!" His Ursaring yawned, flopping down on the ground.

"And what time is it?" Rick asked, pulling out his cell phone. "I forgot to swipe the power charger for this thing."

I read the navigation system carefully, guessing about how much time we had left. "It looks like we have about 5 miles, maybe hour and half, two hours?"

"Ahhh!" Ricky moaned, falling to the ground like his Ursaring.

I pushed the exit button on the touch screen navigation system. "And it's almost six o'clock." I pushed the three buttons on the side of the bike, making it puff back into a capsule. "I suppose it would be best if we stop here and continue tomorrow."

"Oh, thank God." Ricky said, recalling his Ursaring. "My legs are killing me."

"Scyther." Scyther said with a chuckle, as if he was making fun of Ricky. He then walked over to a tree, crossing his swords as he sat by the trees roots. He closed his eyes, acting like he was meditating, or sleeping, I really couldn't tell.

"I'll go ahead and get the pots and pans out." I put Pichu on the ground along with my book bag. I looked over to Sycther. "Hey Scyther, could you get us some fire wood?"

"Scy!" He nodded, flying off into the woods.

"Hey Ricky." I looked over at him, sitting under a tree. "Can you take the canteen and find some water for the food?"

"Arrr…" He groaned. "Why? I'm tired."

"Well then I guess you won't be getting any spaghetti." I stood up, taking the canteen as I walked into the woods.

"Spaghetti?" He asked, rising up. "You're fixing spaghetti?"

"Yes." I nodded. "But its not any concern to you, seeing as how you won't help."

"Hey!" He jumped up, jerking the canteen out of my hand. "I'll help for spaghetti!" He reached for two pokeballs around his waist. He threw out his Swampert, and hopped on his Dodrio. "Find some water Swampert, me and Dodrio will follow behind."

"Swamp!" The creature said.

"Hey, Ricky."

"Yeah?" He looked back me, still on Dodrio.

"Here." I tossed him another canteen from my book bag. "When you find a stream or something get some scum from the bottom of it."

"What?" He jumped, looking at me strange. "Lord, why? If you're going to add that into the spigetti…"

"No." I shook my head with a chuckle. "It's for Kabuto, that's what he eats."

"Pond scum?" He asked, before looking away. "Okay, whatever. Lets go you two!" He motioned to his Swampert as they disappearing into the woods.

"Well, well." I said, picking Pichu back up as I put him on my shoulder. "It's amazing what a little convincing can do for someone." I smiled, releasing Arcanine, Kabuto, out Quilava. I looked around, seeing that all my pokemon, with the exception of Scyther, were all standing around me. Man, I really should work on my party's defense. With half of my party fire type all it would take was one good Hydro Pump and I would be out of commission. Slugma can't really learn any defensive moves now, seeing as how he is just a blob of lava, but he might when he evolves. Quilava could be trained to handle some water attacks, but if his body temperature drops too much it could be bad. Arcanine, on the other hand, is at such a high level that a water attack wouldn't hurt him very much. On top of that his thick fur is so oily that when he gets wet it just rolls right off. I might should start training him in the water, that way he would get use to it and might strengthen his weakness against those types of attacks. If I was going to train him with that then I would like to start him off with some hot springs, maybe that wouldn't be as bad as a cold river, but where would I find a hot spring? The last one I found was back in Azalea Town, and that was a full days walk, I really didn't want to go back. Well, we will see after I get my gym badge, maybe I can talk to some people and see if there is a short cut back, I know in Kanto there always was.

I looked to sky, away from my playing pokemon. This place is very well covered, in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I should think about training Articuno, this would be an ideal spot. But if I were going to do that, I would need Ricky out of the picture. How would I manage that? I guess I could just tell him to go out and get drunk, even though I don't know where he would get the beer seeing as how he was only 15, but I knew he would from somewhere. That kid was crafty. I pondered on this more, feeling sure in my plan. He also said that there were some very… 'questionable gal's' that would do dirty work, if you know what I mean. I could just tell me to go there and leave me alone for a bit.

It wasn't long until Scyther came back with a trunk of a tree in his sword like arms. He threw it into the air with a quick Wing Attack and sliced it into smaller pieces, perfect for a fire. When the pieces fell they landed in a stack in the middle of the open area we were at.

"Great job!" I said, giving him a thumbs up. "That is really awesome how you can do that, and even stack it too!"

"Scy." He crossed his arms, acting like he didn't care, but I could see a smile on his face.

I took some pieces off the stack, putting them on the ground, and lining a circle of large rocks around them. I looked over to Quilava and Pichu, who were both playing with Slugma and Kabuto. Arcanine was there too, watching over them, making sure that things didn't get too rough. I smiled, not wanting to bring anyone away from the fun, but I needed a fire lit. "Hey, Slugma."

They all stopped playing as Slugma turned to look at me. "Maaa?"

"Come over here." I motioned. "I need your help to make a fire."

"Ma, ma, slug!" He smiled, inching his way over too me, making the grass under his lava body sizzle into a silver flame before going out. The other pokemon behind him started to play once more, watching out for the little cinders that he had made before. I saw Scyther fly into the air, landing beside Arcanine. Though it had been subtle, I have noticed that he was taking a liking to Arcanine, either that or he just wanted to hang around the strongest pokemon he could. Arcanine didn't mind, he always liked everyone in my party, kind of acted like the leader in some ways.

When Slugma got to the fireplace he shot an ember attack at it, making it engulf in silver flames, before it slowly turned red. "Thanks!" I said, reaching my hand down to pat him on the head, only to yank it away. I only got a few inches away from him, but his lava body was so hot that I could feel my hand start to get burns.

"Slug, ma?" He looked up at me sadly.

"I'm sorry Slugma," I said, knelling down to him. "I want to pet you, but I can't. Your skin is far too hot, I would get burned. It's not like the fames on Quilava, regardless of how much you like me, I will get burned until you evolve into a Magcargo."

"Slug…" He looked down sad.

"Oh, its okay." I smiled, looking at him. "We can still make the best of it."

"Hey!" Ricky yelled as he rode back on Dodrio. Swampert wasn't around, I guess me must have put him back up. He hopped off the three headed bird, recalling him. "One canteen full of water," He said, placing it in my hand. "And the other one full of … scum… stuff…"

"Buto! Buto!" Kabuto squealed, leaping from the spot him, Pichu and Quilava were playing. He ran as fast as his little claw like legs could go, jumping on Ricky's leg, trying to get to the muck.

"Ah!" He screamed. "Alright, alright, take it, take! Just get off of me!"

He threw the canteen on the ground. "Buto!" Kabuto scurried over to it, nibbling at the slush that fell out of the open lid.

"Hey!" I said, scooping up the canteen. "You have to wait just like everyone else, Kabuto."

"Bu, to…" He looked down sad, pushing a little claw in the slush that was on the ground.

"Agg…" I sighed. "Okay, you can eat that, but no more!"

"Buto-to-to!" He squealed happily as he munched the muck down.

* * *

It wasn't long until the food was done. I bought some spaghetti noodles back is Azalea town, and couldn't wait to try my new recipe. Everyone seemed to like it, except for Scyther, who preferred to fly off and get his own food. After the dinner we rolled out our sleeping bags and went to bed. That night, I knew something didn't feel right, like I was forgetting something… or something…

"Oh well." I said, closing my eyes.


	8. Shonna, Shonna, Shonna

**Author's Note:**

Normally I have several chapters loaded but not added up, but this is the last chapter I loaded, so it will be the last one for a while.

Finals week is coming up and I have alot of stuff on my plate as of late. I will try to update soon, but please bare with me.

I have recently updated my profile with some more pictures of the characters Ricky and Conner, if you all are interested.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Chapter 7**

**Shonna, Shonna, Shonna**

_"Here, Shonna, I got this for you."_ A guy in a cowboy hat with tight jeans said as he handed her a red rose pin. They were sitting in this sleigh, pulled by Shonna's blue Rapidash, and a regular one. _"I thought it would look great on you."_

_ "Oh, thank you, Travis."_ She said, pinning it on her coat.

"What is going on?" I asked, running up to the sleigh as she stepped off, falling into the goofy looking cowboy's arms.

_"Watch out."_ He said in a sexy voice as their eyes met.

_"Oh, Travis."_ I saw Shonna blush as she put her feet in the snow under her, walking inside a house.

I watched as she went inside, then the cowboy turned around, facing me. _"Look here kid."_ He said, holding up a fist to my face. _"She's mine, so you just run on outta' here. Ya' hear?"_

"No." I said, looking at him. "Shonna is mine, MINE!" I ran to the door, pounding on it. "Shonna! Shonna!" I screamed, but no one answered. "Shonna!"

_"She don't love you."_ The cowboy said again.

"You shut your mouth!" I screamed running over to the guy, punching him in the face.

"Oh, Shit!" Ricky screamed, waking me from my slumber. I opened my eyes, seeing my fist in the air and Ricky knelling down with his face in his hands, pouring blood on the ground. "Shit man! You try to wake some one up and they bust your nose! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"I'm sorry." I said, rolling over. "It was a bad dream."

"No kidding." He said, grabbing a clean sock from his bag, plugging it up to his nose to catch the blood. "Man, if you can do that when you're sleeping, you must be one heck of a fighter."

"Lets just say that I grew up somewhere were I needed to know how to fight." I flopped over, seeing the moon threw the thick trees in the forest. "Do you know what time it is?"

"I don't know." Ricky said, checking his nose. "You're the one with the fancy bike, why don't you check?"

"No thanks." I said, standing up. "Well, I'm wide awake now."

"Pht…" He spat. "You're wide awake? That's good, now you wont be swinging punches. Seems like you only do that when you're asleep."

"Oh stop being a baby." I said, popping my back and neck. "I use to get one of those at least once a week. You need to toughen up."

"I'll show you 'toughen up'." He said, holding up a fist. I didn't anything, just looked at him out of the corner of my eye, which was enough to make him stop.

"I'm packing up." I said, rolling my sleeping bag back up. "If we leave now we should make it up to Goldenrod before day break."

"Yeah…"

* * *

When we arrived at the center in Goldenrod it was about 8am. Though it was early, the lights were so bright in this city that it looked like daylight, even though it was barely sunrise. It was also so loud here, due to the cars and people, that even in the pokecenter shower I could still hear the commotion coming through the walls. I always hated big cities. Too many people, too much noise, and it just wasn't my cup of tea.

After the shower I got dressed and headed into the lounge, still drying my thick brown hair with a towel. Ricky was sitting on the couch, watching the news on TV. There was some TV reporter on there, and she was in a town that looked very familiar.

"Hey, what's going on?" I asked, pointing at the screen.

"Shh!" Ricky shushed as we both listened.

_"I'm here in Violet City, where a murder has taken place in this bar."_ The woman pointed at a building behind her. _"The closed sign was left on the door, leaving the dead bodies inside for days. Locals say it was strange for the 24-hour bar to be closed for days, but no one suspected anything strange until the smell of decomposition began to leak out."_

"My God." I said, thinking that only a few days ago we were in that town.

"Quiet!" Ricky barked, turning up the TV.

_"Inside this small bar was found three dead bodies. A woman, a man, and the owner, who was also the bartender. The killer has left close to no traces, but inspectors were able to find a few clues. The murders were made in the same manner as other recent killings located in Hoenn and Kanto. Inspectors claim that these murders do not mean that the Team Rocket serial killer is in Johto, but to make precautions, a new law has been put forth across the Johto region. The new law of "No switchblades" will be going into effect as of next week."_

_ "Thank you, Anna."_ A newscaster said. _"In other news, another Team Rocket hideout as been found. The former members of the now crumbling clan were questioned before being sent to jail."_

"Stupid Rockets." Ricky spat. "I always hated those morons."

"Really?" I asked, looking at him as he got up. "I do too, but only because they are such scum. They ruined everything that was good in Kanto." I watched as Ricky started to walk into the hallway. "What about you? Why do you hate them?"

Ricky stopped, not turning to face me. "My father. Because of Team Rocket he was never there for me… he was always gone."

"Was he a cop?" I asked.

"No…" He paused. "But he was always chasing after them." He paused again, taking a deep breath. "And died because of it."

I didn't know what to say to that, I just looked at him as he turned to head down the hall again. "I'm sorry."

"It's cool." He threw up a hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm going for my turn in the showers, after that I'm going to hit up some of the clubs around here. You in for it?"

"No thanks." I turned back to the TV.

"Alright, suit yourself." He said, walking away. "But I wont be back til' late!"

"That's fine by me…" I grumbled, looking back to the TV.

_"The tragic story of the new deadly strain of the Pokerus."_ A news lady said. _"This is Diane Fletcher, bringing you this heartbreaking story from the heart of Sinnoh."_

"Hmm." I smirked, looking at the screen. "Sinnoh… that's where I would have gone if I wasn't stupid."

_"I am live at Solaceon Town, right outside of the Daycare Center that this strain of virus started."_

I felt my heart skip as my breathing started to get heavier. "Solaceon Town?" That was where Shonna was from, and she works in a daycare center.

"_Just yesterday a baby Chikorita was dropped out at this center. We have word that the small grass pokemon looked very sick, and was immediately taken to the Nurse Joy. Joy informed them that it was indeed the Pokerus, and that it only needed some rest. Sadly, the poor pokemon's condition worsened as it passed away during the night."_

"Man." I said to myself. "I always heard the Pokerus was a good thing."

"_Incidentally, the Chikorita was infected with a new strain of Pokerus, never before seen. A sample of this strain has been sent away for analyses. From what we know so far, this strain cause pokemon to become more powerful, but at the same time, deathly ill. This strain also didn't stop with the Chikorita, but also all the pokemon that were staying at the center have been infected."_ The lady paused as a blond hair girl ran out of the Pokemon Daycare behind her.

"Shonna!" I jumped up as she ran into the news lady.

"_Ma'am!"_ The reporter stopped Shonna. _"Could you tell us about the chain of events that have taken place here of over the past few days?"_

"_Get out of my way!"_ Shonna screamed. _"I have to go! Move!"_ She pushed the news lady out of the way, bumping into the cameraman as she ran past. Shortly after a guy in a cowboy hat stepped up to them.

"_I will be happy to answer any questions."_ He said calmly.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but some how this guy looked familiar. I watched as he answered everything the news lady asked. It looked so strange to me, he was wearing a pink bandana around his neck. Why on earth would a guy be wearing that? And why was he in the building with Shonna? And then it hit me. My dream that I had the night before, that was him! He was the one that helped Shonna off the sleigh. He was the one that said she hated me. He was the … other man.

I watched angrily as he kept talking about the center, about how this might put a damper on the business and how they have been quarantined. I walked over to the TV, kicking the power button on the receiver off. I grabbed my jacket, strapping my pokeballs on my belt, leaving the rest of my stuff in my room, beside my sleeping Pichu. I wouldn't be gone long, so it would be okay to leave him there for now. Locking the door, I headed out of the center. I needed some time to get away, to think about all of this.

"That stupid dream." I muttered, kicking a can into the crowded street. "If I had remembered to take my pill I would have never had that stupid dream." I stood still for a moment, sitting down on the bench beside me. "Lets just think about this." I said, not jumping to conclusions. "I'm sure that dream was just a coincidence, and that guy too. I mean, really." I sat up, looking to the clouds in the sky. "It has only been six months, I'm sure she didn't find a new guy this fast. I don't know, though." I then kept quite, thinking only to myself. She is really pretty, any guy would be lucky to have her. Never the less, she would never go for a country bumpkin like that. I chuckled, thinking about the pink handkerchief on the guy's neck.

"Yeah." I stood up. "I'm sure I'm just jumping to conclusions." Right then a pokeball on my belt shook.

"Scy!" Scyther stood in the crowd with his swords crossed.

"Ahhhh!" A woman in the crowd screamed as she ran away. No one else seemed to mind though, they just kept right on walking.

"Scyther, what are you doing out of your pokeball?" I questioned.

"Scy!" He lifted one of his swords to point into a store window. Inside was what looked like a coat made out of medal, perhaps for training purposes?

"Oh. Would you like one of those Scyther?"

"Scyther!" He smiled.

* * *

Conner adjusted his mask. He had been waiting behind the pokecenter in Godenrod for only a few minutes. He had trailed the pokemon master through the Ilex forest, undetected, and was ready for his next opportunity to get another pokemon. Before long the 'Indigo Champion' walked out of the center.

"Hmph." Conner grinned, pulling out his laptop as he stood. When Kyle was out of sight, he made his move. Casually he walked into the center, red cape drooped behind him. He spied the nurse joy in the back, fiddling with some paper work. He then looked around the center. Not a soul around. "Perfect."

Conner walked over to the PC, pulling the seat out and setting up his laptop. By now he already knew all the information needed get into Kyle's system, so hacking it was becoming faster and faster. The sad thing is, he couldn't see what pokemon Kyle had in his PC. Instead, he could only hack the pokemon he had seen Kyle use. It was quite tedious and annoying, especially because he knows Kyle has other pokemon, and they are not showing up.

His computer loaded when he noticed something different. There was something he had never seen before. It looked like Kyle had a message, from a Debbie Gray, requesting a transaction of pokemon.

Conner leaned back in the seat, putting a hand to his chin. "I think I understand." He said, copying the information from the sent e-mail. "What a brilliant idea, Kyle. Keeping your pokemon in two places at once. This information will come in handy."

* * *

Scyther and I walked into the building. We looked around for a bit, looking at all the metal coats hanging on display. They came in so many different shapes and sizes, most of which were a basic jacket with metal washers, bolts and chains sowed into the cloth.

"May I help you?" A store attendant came up to us.

"Yes." I said, turning to face her. "I would like to buy a Metal Coat for my Scyther."

"Scyther!" Scyther spread out his wings, pushing his arms into the air.

"Oh." She looked at Scyther. "It looks like he would be a size 18 in our standard fit." She walked in front of us. "Come along." We followed close behind as she led us into an aisle. She fumbled through some racks before bringing out a jacket covered in metal. The thing must have been heavy because she used a small crane hook that was attached to the ceiling to bring it over to Scyther. "Spread your arms." She said, sliding it over Scyther's swords.

"Watch out." I said as she held her hand on his sword. "I just sharpened those."

"Oh don't worry." She said with a smile. "This is some of the strongest cloth made. Your Scyther wont cut it."

"I really wasn't worried about the jacket, but okay."

When she finished she unzipped some of the zippers on the back, letting Scyther's wings flap free. She then went to the sleeves, unzipping some straps making the arms come just to the beginning of the swords.

"There you go." She smiled. "How does that feel?"

"Scyther…" He took a step, looking off balance.

"You will get use to it." They lady smiled. "It is a little over 200 pounds."

"What?!" I jumped. "Over 200 pounds?" I couldn't believe it. That was almost two times as much as I weighed.

"Yep." She smiled, looking back at me. "Your Scyther will be ready to trade anytime."

I looked at her strange. "What do you mean, trade?" I looked at Scyther who looked just as confused as I did.

"That is why you want to buy a metal coat, right?" She questioned, but when I didn't answer, she continued. "Well, it has recently been discovered that when certain pokemon are wearing coats made of metal and are traded, they evolve."

"Yeah, I heard about that." I added. "Onix into Steelix is one of them, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes, and so are Scyther. When they are traded they turn into Scizors."

I smiled, turning to face Scyther. "I like my Scyther the way he is. I wouldn't trade him for the world." I turned back to her. "He wanted that coat for training, to become stronger."

"I see… well, I'm not one to question the customer." She led us to the cash register. The thing wasn't cheap, but it made Scyther happy, and that's all that matters.

We headed back to the pokecenter. I kept Scyther out of his ball until we got there, to let him get use to the new jacket. It looked like it would be very difficult to carry, but he was determined. I could see it in his face that even though it was hard, he was happy. I recalled him as I walked into the door and headed towards the PC. There was something that I had to do, something that I needed to do and have been putting off for a long time.

I turned on the button, pushing in my information. My mother sent me an e-mail saying that she would like me to transfer Scyther to her for testing. She said she wanted to monitor the effects of wild pokemon's friendship and how it grows. I really hated to give it up, but she did already transfer my Gyarados back, so I guess I couldn't hurt. Besides, I need to deposit one anyway so I can withdraw… someone. I removed the pokeball from my belt, placing it on the PC system, and clicking the transfer button. A spark came from the unit as the pokeball disappeared. I drug the mouse over to the small bird icon in the left side.

* * *

"Piii!" Pichu yawned. He leaned up in the bed; pushing the little blanket Alisa gave him away. The room was dark, very dark. The blinds were closed and the lights were off. Pichu knew that if he was scared he could use his spark to light the room, but he wasn't afraid of the dark. In fact, he wasn't scared of anything. He jumped up on the bed putting his little hands on his hips. "Pi-chu! I'm not scared! Kyle said I'm strong!" He turned his head to look around, something was strange about this, he didn't see Kyle anywhere. "Kyle?" His head sunk as he lifted up the pillow, then under the cover. "Where is Kyle?"

Suddenly his ear twitched. He looked to the door, where the sound came from. "Pi?" He tilted his head, watching as the door to the room opened slowly. A shadowy figure walked into the dark room.

Pichu's face turned white. "Piiiiiii…" He closed his eyes as he hid under the cover. He heard the footsteps come closer and closer. "Pi-chu!"

* * *

I pushed the key into the lock on the doorknob. I did feel bad about leaving the little guy when I left the center, but I didn't want to wake up. After all, Pichu usually wakes up about this time anyway, so with any luck he wouldn't even notice I was gone.

I slowly opened the door. The room was dark, but I could see something moving around on the bed. I smiled, knowing that Pichu was still asleep. The little rat was so cute when he slept. I walked over to the bed, placing a hand on the blanket, moving the cover to find Pichu covered in a yellow light.

"Chuuuu!" He screamed, letting loose a thunderbolt that went straight through me.

"Ahhh!" I screamed. "Pichu! Stop!"

When Pichu heard my voice the electricity stopped. He looked up at me sadly, and then started to tear up. "Piiiiiiiii!" He wailed as tears fell from his eyes.

"Oh… its okay." I said picking up the little mouse as he cried in my arms. "I know you didn't mean to." I could still feel the electricity spark when I walked across the floor. With every step a spark went from my foot to the ground, making me flinch. I could feel that my brown hair was standing up, as well as feel some shocks coming from it. When we stepped out into the hallway Pichu looked up at me, and his tears turned to a big laugh as he saw my hair.

"Pi-he-he!" He laughed, pointing at me.

"Yeah, I know." I said, trying to pat my hair back down. "That was quite a shock. But it wasn't you're fault, I shouldn't have left you in there." I smiled at him as he crawled up on my shoulder, then on my head, trying to get my hair to flatten out.

I walked down the hall, pounding on Ricky's door. "Hey, Rick?" But there was no answer. Once again I tried, but again, no answer. "Hmm… well, maybe he already left?"

"Pi?" Pichu tilted his head as he patted out the rest of my hair.

"Oh well," I smiled. "Lets go check with Nurse Joy."

We walked back into the main room, just about the same time as Nurse Joy did. "Hey joy."

"Yes?" She asked, walking behind the front counter.

"Could you check to see if Ricky checked out for me?"

"Last name?" She asked, flipping through some papers on a clipboard.

"I…" I paused. "I really don't know."

"Hmm…" She shuffled the papers around. "These peoples signatures are getting harder and harder to read."

"He was staying in room 113." I added. "Does that help?"

"Oh yes, 113." She let out a slight sigh. "Was his name Ricky? Mmm…" She moaned.

"A-hmm!" I coughed, trying to get her focus back. Good lord, does every women have an attraction to that guy?

"Oh umm, right." She straightened up. "Yes, the young man check out about thirty minutes ago, but he said he would be back tonight."

"Okay, thanks." I said as I started to head out the door.

"Mr. Gray." She spoke. "Would you like me to sign you out?"

I stopped, about to step out the door. I didn't write my full name on the sign in sheet. I turned to face her with a questioning look on my face. "How do you know my name?"

"Well… " She paused. "You are the world famous 'Pokemon Master'. I wouldn't be surprised if almost everyone in this town knows you. You might even be asked to be on our TV or radio channels."

I didn't say anything, not knowing if I should believe her or not. I had already walked around this city, and no one stopped me or asked if I was the _'Pokemon Master'_. I guess it could be that it was just daybreak when I got out, but I didn't have time for this. This was the first time that Ricky was out of my hair; I needed to take advantage of this.

"So, Mr. Gray." Joy asked once more. "Would you like me to sign you out?"

"Nah." I walked out. "I'll be back… sometime."

I walked out of the city with Pichu on my shoulder. In the dim light of the morning I didn't really notice that I was in the downtown part of the city on my earlier walk, this time I could see though. The down town part was still pretty big, but it was nothing compared to the towering buildings that blocked out the sun like Mt. Moon did back home.

Pichu and I made our way back into the Ilex forest. The sun was quickly blocked out from the trees, and the noises of cars and people died down almost immediately. I checked around for a minute, making sure I didn't hear any footsteps or people talking. When I was sure we were the only ones in the forest I let out Arcanine, Quilava and Slugma beside me.

"Now listen." I spoke sternly to them. "I don't know how this pokemon will react to us, so I need you all here incase things get out of line." I then turned my head to Pichu on my shoulder. "That means you too, Pichu."

"Pi?" Pichu pointed at himself.

"Arcanine." I turned back to face him. "This is the reason why I taught you Heat Wave. If things get out of hand here, I want you to use that move." I then paused, holding the pokeball in my hand. "I don't think it will go crazy on me or anything, but I guess you can't be too careful in times like this."

As the pokeball opened a chill ran through the woods. It was as if someone just picked me up and shoved me into a freezer. Snow started to fall from the treetops as the light from the pokeball subsided, showing the giant blue bird in front of me.

"Bruuuu!" It screamed at me as it spread its wings, flapping snow at me with a Blizzard attack. I crossed my arms over my eyes to shield myself as Arcanine jumped in front of me.

"Raaaa!" He roared, emitting a wall of pure heat that blocked the attack and evaporated the snow instantly.

"Articuno!" I called out. "Please stop! I want to help you!"

"_Help me?!" _I heard a female voice call out. _"Did you 'help me' when you let my home be destroyed?"_ The voice called again as Articuno flew up to the tree tops, shooting a beam of ice at me.

"Maa!" Slugma jumped in front of me, freezing as the beam struck him, but the ice quickly melted over his lava body. He fell to the ground, knocked out as the water sizzled his skin.

"Stop it, Articuno!" I cried out as I recalled Slugma. "Please! I'm sorry about your home, but you must understand, it wasn't me!"

"_If not you, then who?"_ Articuno spoke. _"Was it not you who trapped me in that ball? Was it not you who pulled me away from my home? Was it not you who kept me against my will? Is it not you're fault I am not free from these confining binds of humanity?"_

"Please, listen!" I pleaded. "I captured you to protect you! A group of evil people called Team Rocket were the ones that broke into your home. They were the ones that made your island collapse. They were the ones that wanted your life." I paused, remembering back to that day. "They were the ones that died trying to capture you."

"_Do not tell lies to me, boy!"_ Articuno landed in front of me, screaming. "Bruuuu!"

"I'm not lying! I…"

"_I saw you!"_ She said. _"While my home was falling to pieces you were the one that captured me! Tell me, were you not wearing the same clothes as the other people? The 'Team Rocket' you were speaking of."_

My eyes opened wide as I remembered slipping into the Rocket Grunt's uniform. "I was in disguise!" I pleaded. "Please, I only want to help you."

She didn't say anything; instead she looked to Arcanine, who barked back at her, almost like they were talking. After a few seconds she spoke to me again. _"You're slave seems to believe you, but I am not as foolish as most primitive pokemon."_

"He's not my slave, he's my friend." I put a hand on Arcanines head. "They are all my friends. No, they are more than that, they are my family." Arcanine, Pichu, and Quilava turned to face me. "They are my family. They are all I have. I would never, ever, call them slaves."

Articuno stayed quite, looking back and forth to the three pokemon. _"If you truly are as they say, then let me go free."_ She looked at me sternly.

"I can't do that."

"_Why… NOT?!"_ She screamed, loud enough to shake snow clumps from the trees. "Bruuuuuu!"

"Because there are people out there that still want you!" I said. "Team Rocket is still out there, and even the mention of your name could have people killed." I paused thinking back to all those people that died… I guess, because of me. "There have been too many people that have died over you already…" I looked up to Articuno. "Please, understand. I don't want to hurt you, I want to help. I will let you go free if you want, but I can't right now, you are still in danger."

Her blue eyes shot straight through my soul. It was so weird and creepy, but at the same time, what did I expect? So far, this pokemon has changed the weather, spoke to me telepathically, and has sent some attacks that could kill me.

"_Fine." _She lowered down slowly, sitting on the ground instead of standing. _"I do not know why I feel as if I should trust you, after all, you are a 'human' after all. But, your … 'family', does seem to share the same feelings as you."_ She closed her eyes, and then opened them again, to stare at me. _"Also, do not think for one second that I will battle for you."_

"I never wanted you to." I spoke softly. "I just want your safety. And, I felt you should know about what is going on."

She didn't speak.

"Please, something else." I asked. "Is the Laboratory that you have been kept at nice? Is it to your liking? Is there anything I can add in there to make you feel more at home?"

"_It's fine. Now if we are done, put me back in that primitive containment system. After all, I am in 'grave danger'."_ She added with extreme sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah." I lifted her ball, sucking her back inside. "Well… I guess that could have went better."

* * *

I went back into the pokecenter, this time, riding Arcanine through the doors. It was pretty funny to see the massive dog walking on the sidewalk, and all the people jumping to get out of the way.

I hopped off his back, putting him back in his pokeball as I laid it and the rest of them, with the exception of one, on the counter. "Could you heal them for me Nurse Joy?"

"Of course, Mr. Gray!" She beamed. "Its nice to see you again."

"Thanks." I nodded, walking over to the PC system as she put the pokeballs in the healing machine. I sat down, plugging in my information, and placing Articuno's pokeball on the deposit unit. The ball sparked and then disappeared. I sighed, rolling my mouse over my other pokemon. "Lets see. If I'm not mistaken the gym in this city is the famous Normal Type Gym. Yeah, I remember, it as the first Normal type gym that was created." I rolled the curser of the icons on my PC. I could get out Dragonite, but that might be overkill. Maybe Umbreon? Nah, not a good match up. I would use Scyther, but mom has him. Gyarados is almost useless in a gym, unless it is huge.

"Oh!" I laughed, almost smacking myself for missing this. "I have Primeape! That would give me a great advantage with him being a fighting type." I flipped through my PC boxes until I found the tiny monkey icon. I clicked on it, and drug it to the withdraw box. A spark flew from the PC system as my pokemon appeared in the withdraw unit.

"Oh my, oh my." I heard an elderly lady say as she walked into the Pokecenter. I didn't look at her, but I listened, making it look like I was doing something on the PC.

"What is it, Ruby?" Nurse Joy said, running to help the old lady inside the center.

"That poor daycare center in Solaceon Town." When she said this my heart sunk, remembering seeing Shonna. "That place is giving all daycare centers trouble, even ours."

"So have you and Calvin not had many customers?" Joy asked.

"Not many? We haven't had a one." She huffed, setting on the couch. "We have had lots of calls though, people worried that the daycare centers all over the world are in conspiracies with each other. I can't believe it, one daycare messes up, and it falls down on all of us."

The old women bickered for quite a while before she left, but I didn't pay her any mind. Now, she made me remember something else that I had to do. I started looking through the online phone book for Sinnoh. "Lets see, lets see. Search by town… Solaceon." The search started as a list of results came up. There were lots of names, but that wasn't what I was looking for.

"_Limit Search?"_ The computer popped up.

"Umm… okay. Limit search to… Pokemon." When I typed those words in the computer spat out fewer results. "Pokecenter, no. Pokemart, no. Pokemon Newspaper, no. There we go!" I said, rolling my mouse over the call now button. Though, before I clicked, I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. How would I react? What if… she picked up? I closed my eyes, clicking the button. I heard a ring, and opened my eyes just in time to see an elderly lady on the monitor speaking back to me.

"Solaceon Town daycare center. This is Mary. How may I help you?" She said with a glum look on her face.

"Ma'am… I was wondering, is this the Pokemon Daycare Center that I heard about on the news?" I asked, already feeling a little better. I mean, I wanted to talk to Shonna, but… I don't even know how I would react if I saw her face again. If I were to talk to her… well, I wouldn't want it to be on the phone. What I want more than anything is to see her smile, or make her smile.

"Hmm…" The woman sighed. "If you want to slander our name like all the others did then-"

"No! No!" I said. "I would never do that. Why I called was to help. I noticed someone I…" I paused thinking of Shonna as she ran out of the Daycare Center. She did leave me. Maybe she doesn't want to have anything to do with me now. How would that make her feel knowing that I helped her? I don't want to make her mad or upset anymore than she already is with me.

"Sir?" Mary asked, making sure I was okay. I didn't notice, but I had stayed quiet for about five seconds or so.

"Oh yes, I'm sorry, my mind wonders a lot. Anyway," I continued. "I know how you're to be in a bind, and I would like to help."

"Alright, how so?" She asked.

"Well, I don't know. I don't have much to offer, and I am in another region. But," I put on a smile. "If you would let me I would like to donate some money to your center. Like I said, its not much, but it may help you get by when times get rough."

"Well, we haven't got to the point of taking donations yet." The woman said. "And I don't know how I feel about doing that."

"Then take it as a gift." I smiled. "Would this number be a good one to transfer the gift to?"

"Yes, that would be fine." She paused. "Thank you. Knowing there are still some good people in the world makes my heart warm."

"Oh, it's the least I could do…" For the woman that stole my heart and broke it. "I'll send it over right away."

"Thank you." She said as the phone clicked off.

I closed out of the International Phone Program on the PC, and opened up the Internet. While I was at home with mom for six months I opened a bank account up. I knew that if mom found out I had five million dollars that she would steal that from me the minute I turned my back. Luckily, the bank people there didn't ask any questions, seeing as how I was under age, and gave me a banking account without my mother present.

Clicking on my bank's website I plugged in my information, accessing my account. My five million was now down to just under four. It was still a lot to get me through, but after this donation, I'm going to have to start pinching my pennies.

I went over to the withdraw button on the side of monitor. "$1,000,000.00" In the form spot, I typed, "Check". In a spark an item holder arrived on the withdraw unit of the PC System. I opened it up, revealing a check for $1,000,000.00. I put the check on the counter of the center, taking a pen from the pen cup.

_Pay: _Solaceon Town Daycare Center

_Amount: One Million Dollars_----------- |_$1,000,000.00_

_Memo:_ Donation

_Sign:_ Kyle Gray

I then flipped the check over, writing my name on the back as well before sitting down to my email. I opened a new message, sending it to _1-555-664-2349: Solaceon Town Daycare Center_. Enclosed in the message I typed:

_I would like to donate $1,000,000.00 to the Solaceon Town Daycare Center. It's not much, but I hope it will help._

Down at the bottom of my mail I noticed something. It was a little button that that asked if I wanted to show my email to the receiver. My name was already on the check, but my handwriting is so horrid that no one other than me can read it. I went down to the button and clicked no, hiding my identity. Maybe I was right about Shonna. Maybe she left me for a reason, and she doesn't want to see me. If she saw my name on there she might get upset. I sent the email, walking over to the counter where Pichu sat, eating some peanuts.

"Piiiii…" He frowned, gnawing on the shell, trying to get to the nut.

"Here." I chuckled, taking it from him and cracking it open. He scurried over to me, taking the nuts out of my hand.

"Chaaa!" He squeaked happily as he munched away.

"Here you are Mr. Gray." Nurse Joy said, running over to me with my pokeballs. "I'm sorry it took so long, Ruby is always such a talker. You know how older women are."

"Yeah, I know." I laughed. "But it's alright, I don't mind. I'm just happy you healed my pokemon."

"Well, I know you're a pokemon master and all, and you have your method of training." She paused. "But your Slugma was in really bad shape. It was very irresponsible for you to let it get that badly hurt."

I let out a sigh. If only she knew….

"Are you listening to me?" Joy barked.

"Um yeah… sure…" I said, turning around as Pichu jumped on my shoulder. "Hey, I'm heading out, could you sign me off the guest list please?"

"You're leaving?" She asked.

"Yep." I said, walking out the door.


	9. KyleNapping

**Authors Note:**

To make it easier to read, I will be changing the layout of Kyle's "thinking" a little. From now on I will put thoughts in _italics_. Names of places, signs, and things of that nature will be put in _**bold italics**_.

Chapter 8

Kyle-napping!

I walked down the street, Pichu on my shoulder. The day had gone great so far. The sun was out, and high in the sky now. Articuno was back with my mother at the lab, and now I'm on my way to get my third Johto gym badge. One thing struck me as a little odd though. It seemed that everywhere I went in this town everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at me. I was use to this, however. Growing up in a small town, everyone does that, but this was different. Normally people still carry on with their normal stuff, but this time… it was eerie.

I walked up to the gym's doors, pushing them open. "Ahhh." I smiled. "Another gym, anoth-" I stopped mid sentence as I saw that the entire gym was pink!

"Chuuu…" Pichu looked around the massive room, just as I was doing.

"Who in the right mind would paint a gym… pink?" Almost as soon as I said that a girl, about the same age as me, walked out in front of me in a skimpy school uniform.

"Well, like, you are, like, totally cra-azy if you don't like that col-lor." She said in a very preppy voice. "Like, eh, who do you think you are? Making fun of my gym like that?"

"Oh, so it is a gym?" I asked looking around.

"Like, totally! Like, what else would it be?"

"Umm… I don't know." I looked around the room some more. "It kinda looks like a nursery."

"Pi-hi-hi!" Pichu laughed.

"Ohhhh!" The girl cooed. "That Pichu is, like, so cu-ute!" She ran over and started pinching Pichu on the cheeks. "You are the cutest little thing!"

"Piiii!" He whined. I watched as his cheeks started to light up.

"Whoa!" I said, pushing the girl away as Pichu let out a thunder shock that bounced around the room.

"Like, totally rude!" She complained, struggling to stand up from where she fell on the ground.

"Sorry." I said, holding out my hand to help her up. "I didn't want you to get shocked, that's all."

"Hmph!" She smacked my hand away as she stood up, adjusting her short skirt. "I don't need your help! Like, why did you come here anyway?"

"Well, I came for a gym battle." I said.

"Hmm…" She looked me up and down. "You look so familiar… but you're mean, so I'm, like, not going to battle you."

"What? Why not?" I asked. "As the gym leader you are required to battle me as long as you are in the gym."

"Hmm…" She turned away. "Fine. But, like, don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because your Pichu is cute."

"Huh?" _Why would she go easy on me for that_?

"Well, follow me." She spoke, walking away, twisting her butt the whole time. _Man, I just wonder how much of her vanity she could show in one day. This girl seems like a perfect match for Ricky._

When we got to the battle area I noticed that everything in this place was pink. The flowers were pink, the walls were pink, the lamps were pink, there were pink pillows all over the place, pink couches, pink tile, pink everything! It was so pink in this room I could feel my lunch about to come up.

"Like, my side is over there." She said, pointing to the left side of the stage. "And your side is over there." She pointed to the right side. "I am Whitney, the new Goldenrod City gym leader."

"New?" I asked, as I took my side. "What happened to the old one?"

"Well, like, my older sister went to college, so she, like, left this place to me to, like, take care of, and stuff."

"Oh… that's … 'like' cool… I guess…" I said in a joking way.

"Like, isn't it though?!" She jumped.

"Yeah. Can we get this started?" I said, looking at the pink heart shaped… things on the floor.

"Um, like, okay, but you, like, don't have to be rude." Whitney then took a stance. "This will be a two on two battle with no substitutions!"

"Don't you mean you can't substitute?" I asked.

"What did you say?" She put her hands to her hips. "I can so substitute! I would, like, be such a good teacher!"

I shook my head. "Never mind." _Man, this girl must have just started. Oh well, it wouldn't matter anyway. If things got too hairy I could switch out for Arcanine. He could mop the floor with about any pokemon_.

"Like, I'll start." Whitney readied her first pokeball. "I choose you, Miltank!" She threw the ball out onto the field as the pink cow took a fighting stance.

"Mooo!"

"Eah…" I cringed. "Something else pink." _I guess I should have expected that, though. A pink gym would only go along with pink pokemon_. "Alright, then." I readied a pokeball. "I know it's been a while, so come on out Primeape!"

"Ape, ape, ape!" The monkey danced, running by my leg and giving me a hug. "Prime-ape!"

"Chu…" Pichu let out some static in jealousy as Primeape hugged me.

"I missed you too." I laughed, placing a hand on him. "But we have a battle to win."

"Ape!" He nodded, hopping on to the stage.

"Like, are you ready yet?" Whitney asked.

"Yep, and we're ready to go." I grinned.

"Then, like, I'll start, and finish this! Miltank, like, use rollout!" She commanded as the cow rolled up into a ball. It spun violently before springing into action, heading straight for Primeape.

"Stand your ground!" I said. "Brace for impact, Primeape!" The cow rolled faster and faster, building up speed before striking into Primeape. "Now!" I called. "Seismic toss!

Primeape latched onto Miltank's small horns, forcing the cow to stop spinning. The cow looked at him scared as he smiled, jumping into the air and slamming the pink pokemon into the ground, creating an impact crater.

"Like, oh no!" Whitney whined. "Umm… Miltank, like… um… use our… um…"

I watched as the cow struggled to stand. _This could be a great fighter of a pokemon if the trainer knew how to use it properly_. "Primeape, low kick!"

The cow raised its arms in defense as Primeape reared his foot back, sticking it hard enough to throw it into the air.

"Mooo…" The cow groaned as it struggled to stand again.

"I got it!" Whitney jumped. "Miltank, like, use Milk Drink!"

"Milk Drink?" I tilted my head. "I've never heard of that." Miltank stood up straight then bent over, like it was going to touch its toes, but instead it put its lips on its udders. "What?" I jumped back as I saw the cow start to gain back its health. "That is so… disturbing."

"Alright!" Whitney said. "You ready now, Miltank?"

"Mooo!" The pink cow grinned.

"It doesn't even have a scratch on it anymore." I grit my teeth. "That move is bad… and sick." I stuck out my tongue.

"Miltank!" Whitney screamed. "Use your rollout!"

"Again?" I asked as the Miltank started to spin on the ground. "Use another Seismic Toss!" As I said this, I saw Whitney grin.

Miltank took off, spinning toward Primeape, but just before the cow reached him. "Now!" Whitney yelled. "Body Slam!"

Miltank jumped into the air, mid spin, leaving Primeape confused. The pink cow stopped spinning, only for a brief time, but it was enough to land a very powerful body slam on Primeape. After the attack was over Miltank started to spin again, going to the other side of the arena, where it stopped to make a u-turn. From there, it headed right back at Primeape.

"Quick, Primeape! Get up!" I yelled, watching as the monkey struggled to stand. I could tell that where I just started to train him he wasn't as powerful as my other pokemon_. Maybe I should had took that into account before I chose him only for the type advantage. _

By the time he was up, Miltank was moving in fast, and it wouldn't be long until it struck again. "I got it!" I grinned. _It was a long shot, but if this works, Miltank will be out for the count. _"Primeape, stand your ground and use Low Kick!"

"Miltank, Body Slam again!"

Once again, the cow sped at Primeape. Primeape readied himself, and when Miltank got close enough, he let out a Low Kick. He swung his foot, but Miltank jumped just in time to miss it. Primeape fell flat on his back from his loss of balance of the Low Kick. Miltank stopped spinning, hovering directly over Primeape as it started to fall.

""Now!" I screamed. "Mega Punch!"

Miltank sunk closer and closer into the attack, unable to dodge while it was in the air. Primeape's fist was covered in a bright white light as he swung his arm at the falling cow. His fist sunk deep into Miltank's chest, pushing the cow into the air and making it fall down on its back a few feet away.

Neither Whitney nor I said anything as our pokemon struggled to stand. Both were out of breath, and ready to fall down.

"Miltank, use your drink milk!" Whitney said.

I watched as Miltank struggled to bend over but couldn't. Instead, it fell over on the ground, exhausted.

"Miltank!" Whitney screamed. "Stand up! Stand up, now!"

"Give it up." I said. "Both of our pokemon are worn out. To keep on battling is pointless."

"Don't you tell me that!" Whitney said. "All you want to do is try to trick me so you can win!"

"No I'm not." I spoke calmly. "Look at your Miltank." She looked over at the cow gasping on the ground. "The poor thing is exhausted, there is not point in going on with it. The same goes for mine, too." She then directed her attention to Primeape. "He is so tired that he's about to pass out."

Whitney paused for a moment. "I still think your trying to trick me!"

"Fine." I shrugged. "Suit yourself. But don't blame me if your Miltank gets really hurt." I lifted up Primeape's pokeball returning him. Shortly after, Whitney did likewise.

"Like… I know Miltank still had some fight in her." Whitney stuck up her nose. "See, I didn't want to totally cream you, so I went easy on you and recalled her."

I felt my eye twitch at her comment. _Try to help some one and they smart off to you like that?_ I reached for the pokeball around my neck. "Oh… how bad I want to…" I wrapped my fingers around Arcanine's pokeball. "But… no." I smiled, moving my hand down. "I have a better idea." I looked over at Pichu, who looked back at me. "I choose you, Pichu."

"Pi?" Pichu pointed at himself with a questionable look on his face.

"Yep, little bud." I grinned. "Get out there and make me proud. I know you can do it!"

"Pi! Pichu!" He beamed, jumping off my shoulder and running onto the field.

"Oh! How cu-te!" Whitney said, jumping up and down. "Like, I totally want to bring out my cutest one too!" She twirled around on her toes throwing out a pokeball. "Go, Clefairy!"

The ball flew out as a pink Clefairy hopped onto the stage. "Fairy!"

"Wow! A Clefairy!" I said, looking at the pink winged pokemon. "In all my years living in Kanto I have never seen a Clefairy! Where did you get it?"

"Oh, my daddy bought it for me!" She beamed.

"Your… daddy?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, so!" She whined. "What's wrong with that?"

"Well," I laughed. "Lets just say that you have just fit my description of a 'prep' in every way possible." I saw her face get red in anger from the comment. "Pink everything, slutty school girl outfit, the snobby voice, $20 worth of make up on your face, and, to top it all off, you're a little daddy's girl." I said in a babying voice, then started laughing historically.

"I'll show you!" She screamed. "No one talks about me like that! Clefairy, use Double Slap!"

The Clefairy charged at Pichu, arms held out with palms ready to slap. Pichu, on the other hand, just looked at it strangely. Clefairy ran up to Pichu, holding a hand in the air and slapping Pichu hard, and the slapping him again before jumping back.

"Pi… chu…" Pichu started to tear up.

"Fair?" Clefairy walked up to Pichu concerned.

"Pi, hi, hi, hi…" He started crying. "PiiiiiiiiI!"

"Cli-fair fair fair." Clefairy tried to comfort him by patting him on the back, but when it did, Pichu jumped back and groaned in a low voice.

"Pi…… CHUUUUUUUUU!" He screamed, letting out a Thunder attack that was so strong it knocked out the power in the gym for the length of the attack. It was as if all the electricity in the building was redirected into Pichu, and then launched in a massive attack that struck Clefairy head on.

The unbelievable amount of electricity was so bright, that even when the attack was over it still took a few seconds for the eyes to adjust. When I was finally able to see, I saw Pichu standing mad, with a red paw print mark on both sides of his face, looking at a knocked out Clefairy, burnt to a crisp, on the ground.

"Like! Oh no!" Whitney screamed. "My Clefairy! My Clefairy!" She ran onto the battlefield, holding her knocked out pokemon in her arms. "Clefairy, speak to me!"

"Cli…" The Clefairy opened its eyes.

"So…" I walked up to her, letting Pichu crawl back on my shoulder. "Can I have my badge now?"

Whitney looked up at me with a hateful look in her eyes. She recalled her pokemon before standing to look at me. "You make fun of my clothes, you make fun of my pokemon, you call me a 'prep', you say I'm a 'daddy's girl', and you ask if you can have a badge!?"

"Well, yeah." I said. "This is a gym, and I did kick you butt, so I want a badge."

"No! Never! I will never give a badge to a… a… a prick like you!" She screamed as she began to cry. "Just, leave me alone!" She screamed, tears running down her face as she ran into the back of the gym.

"Oh brother." I rolled my eyes. I watched the door that she ran into shut, and when it did, I saw a box beside it labeled, _"__**BADGES"**_.

"Sweet!" I said, walking over to the box, looking inside to find hundreds of gym badges. I reached down, picking one up as I pinned it inside my leather jacket with my other two from Johto. "Three down and only five to go."

"Pi, pi-chu!" Pichu chimed.

We made our way back to the entrance of the pink gym. The thing was like a maze of some sort, all arranged in either tall boxes or walls, or something. Never the less, it took us quite a while to find the front doors.

I pushed them open, feeling the sun hit my face. It was bright out here, so bright that it took me a few seconds to adjust, but when I did I saw that I was surrounded by people with cameras and microphones.

I jumped in shock at the mass of people that went to all sides of me as I exited the gym.

"Tell us, are you _the_ Kyle Gray?" One asked, shoving a mic in my face.

"Yes?" I answered. "I guess. I'm the only Kyle Gray I know of."

"Tell me, how does it feel to be the worlds greatest pokemon trainer, Mr. Gray?" Another person asked, once again, shoving a mic in my face.

"What?" I asked, as lights from digital cameras started flashing around me.

"How do you feel about the new poffins?"

"Do you use TM's?"

"How do you like your breakfast?"

I looked around in confusion at all the people that were around me. I don't know why I was so surprised, the Nurse Joy here did tell me this would happen. But, man, I didn't think it actually would. _This is crazy, and kinda… scary. _I can honestly say that I have never felt claustrophobic, but right now, all I wanted was to get away.

"Mr. Gray! What's it like to see the world with your pokemon?" Another person jumped in front of me.

"Mr. Gray, what is your feelings on the new legislative's bill that was passed about the banning of certain kinds of cigarettes?"

"What?" I asked. "I don't smoke!"

Right then I felt a hand on my shoulder, then me and Pichu were both pulled into a van. The door was slammed shut and the people outside were cut off from me.

"Alright, get us out of here!" I heard a woman say.

I looked up to see that I was in a van full of tv's, antennas, wires, batteries, and all sorts of things. I then felt the van move as Pichu was thrown off my shoulder. I reached for him, holding him in my arms as I looked up at the woman who pulled me into the van. She was a news reporter, and before long she had a camera in my face.

"Cindy Watson here, live, from the back of my news van with the world famous Pokemon Master, Kyle Gray. Mr. Gray, could you tell us a little about your travels here in Johto? What brought you to Goldenrod?"

I looked at the mic that was in my face, then at the woman. The man was too busy driving the van to interfere with us, and the camera was on a tripod that was bolted down to the floor. _I needed to get out of here. I was loosing my head! This place was too weird!_

"HELP ME!" I screamed, grabbing the camera in my hands, shoving my face into the lens. "This crazy woman kidnapped me!" I then threw the camera off the tripod, slamming it on the ground as I opened the side door of the van. I reached for the pokeball around my neck, releasing Arcanine as I jumped on his back, Pichu in my arms the whole time. We ran beside the van just long enough for me to tuck Pichu inside my jacket.

"Mr. Gray!" The lady yelled from the van. "What are you doing?!"

"Arcanine! Extreme Speed!" I yelled.

"Arf?" He looked back at me concerned.

"Just do it!" I screamed, holding on tight to him with one hand, and Pichu with the other. With that I felt a burst of speed rush over my face. We were going fast, very fast, I would even say faster than my bike would go at top speed. But, shortly after going that fast, we began to slow down, drastically.

"Ar… Ar…" Arcanine huffed, out of breath as he jogged slowly.

"It's okay boy." I said, patting him on the side as he slowed to a stop beside a stream. He sat down, letting me and Pichu off as he lapped up the water. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." I said, wrapping my arms around him. "You were so great though! Your extreme speed is really amazing."

"Arf." I saw him sort of chuckle as he licked up some more water.

I leaned up, looking around as Pichu climbed back up on my shoulder. "Where are we?"

"Interesting." Conner spoke as he shuffled through the last bits of information he needed to follow through with his next plan.

He had been searching through several databases to find the other place that Kyle had been storing his pokemon. From what he had gathered, thus far, Kyle has been sending pokemon to a Mrs. Debbie Gray, on Cinnabar Island via instant PC transmission. Very few people have that technology on hand, and the ones that do, are very high-ranking individuals. Professor Oak, Professor Elm, Professor Birch, and Professor Rowan, all have that technology, but they are all head leaders of each regions pokemon informational studies. That gives plenty of reason for them to have access to a database that wide, but that doesn't cover Debbie Gray. The only information that Conner could come up with on her was that she was the head of a Pokemon Research Lab on Cinnabar. Though, that is a major organization in itself, to be able to get rights to use the transfer unit she would have to be in really close to one of the professors.

Though, wondering about such trivial things doesn't matter. Conner was already close to cracking into the e-mail, and now, he's just one click away. The security system was too advanced and protected for him to get into from his own personal computer, but the e-mail, on the other hand, could be easily overridden.

_"Conner, Sir!"_ A man in a white Rocket lab coat popped on the screen in the bottom left hand corner.

"What is it?" Conner demanded as he clicked the "Override" button on his hacking software.

_"Sir! The Cryo-Tubes! They are… malfunctioning!"_

"Well, that's _your_ job to keep them under control." Conner spoke annoyed.

_"Sir! You don't understand! Cryo-Tube 001 is sending out psychic waves, its alive!"_

"Alive?!" Conner yelled.

_"Yes! Alive!"_ The man then jumped away from the camera. _"It's going critical!"_

"Damnit! You stupid fool!" Conner cursed, slamming his foot on the ground. "Keep the damn thing under control, I don't care how you do it, just keep it alive and calm!" He slammed the lid shut as he looked up into the sky. Even in the outskirts of Goldenrod City he could still Mt. Silver standing high over Johto. "Those idiots." He spat. "Looks like I need to go back and make sure the fools don't do anything wrong, again." He reached for a pokeball on his belt, throwing it out in the shade in front of him.

"Raaaaaa!" The massive pokemon screamed.

"Shut-up!" He barked. "Now dig us back to Mt. Silver, there should be an old rundown subway system under us that will get us there in no time.

"Raaa…" The dragon groaned as it plowed under the ground so fast that it was like it vanished in thin air.

After Arcanine's little rest was over I recalled him, placing his pokeball back on the necklace that I wore around my neck. Pichu hopped on the ground as I took off my biker jacket. "Man, it's getting hot." _Johto's weather patterns were strange_. Unlike Kanto, which stayed pretty much one temperature all day, Johto got warmer the further the day went on, and the by night, it was almost freezing again. Well, not really freezing, but man, it felt like it.

I reached into my front pocket of my jeans, bringing out the capsule for my bike. I pushed down the button, throwing the little bottle shaped object on the ground as it puffed into a cloud of smoke.

"Pi!" Pichu squealed happily as he hopped in his little cup holder.

"Well, we can't go for a ride just yet." I said, raising the hood and sitting down. "We need to know where we are, right now." I started to fiddle around with the navigation system.

Pichu climbed up on my shoulder to look as well. "Chu?"

"Hmmm." I looked at the blinking red icon that indicated our location. "_**'Location Unknown.'**_ I wonder what that means?"

"Pi-pichu?" Pichu shook his head.

"Well, lets zoom out." I pushed on the negative magnifying glass, which zoomed out a few miles. But, nothing, it was still, _**'Unknown Location'**_. I zoomed out again, and again, and again, until I was able to make out a good view of our surroundings.

"Alright." I said with a smile. "No worries. It looks like we are about 30 miles from the outskirts of _**Goldenrod**_, 35 miles from the _**Ruins of Alph**_, whatever that is, and 80 miles from _**Ecruteak City**_, where the next gym is." I was about to set a destination to Ecruteak when I noticed a little white dot, only about 10 miles due north from where we were. I zoomed in on it, seeing that it had a caption beside it reading, _**"Hidden Hot Spring – Mountain Resort Getaway"**_.

"A hot spring resort, huh?" I started thinking to myself. _I did say that I wanted to try to train my fire pokemon in water, and a hot spring would be the best way to start. _"Well Pichu!" I looked over at him on my shoulder as he looked back at me. "Put on your gear, we're going for a ride."


	10. Conners Plans

Authors note:

Because fanfiction isn't showing the three asterisks that usually use to separate scenes, from now on I will be using a line. Ex:

***_-Scene Change-_***

Like so. Anyway, hope you all don't mind the changes.

When I get more time I will go back through the rest of the... fifty odd chapters I have and update those as well.

Chapter 9

Conner's Plans

"Sir, Cryo Tube 001 is stable for the moment." A man in a white lab coat said to Conner as they both walked down a narrow hallway.

"You had better make sure it stays stable." Conner barked. The hallway was crammed; people crowded everywhere, running about, reading charts and graphs. To say the least, it was very hectic.

"Yes sir. We have been working very hard to keep it stable, but the Cryo Tubes just are not holding the constant wave of brain frequencies any more. The … project, is altering the ice crystals around it, stimulating its growth and cau-"

"Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot!" Conner screamed, punching his fist into the wall of the hallway, only inches away from the man's face. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch, making the hall go quiet. "Did you forget? I built the damn thing! I'm the reason why it's alive, I know what it is capable of doing!" He grabbed the man by the collar. "I am the one that gave you the SIMPLE job of monitoring it, and you can't even do that. Why the hell do I have you here?" He raised a switchblade to the man's throat, carving it into this neck. "Consider this a warning. If you screw me over one more time, I will make sure you will never have the chance to do it again." Conner dropped the man to the ground as everyone stood quiet. Conner had his back facing everyone as he yelled in an evil voice. "Get back TO WORK!" Everyone franticly struggled to gather the dropped papers, charts and graphs, rushing back to their assignments.

Conner walked to the end of the hallway, pushing open a door. A wind blew from the doorway, like it did every time, blowing his cape in the air. This room was dark and gloomy, but what would you expect, from a cave. This whole laboratory was carved out of the extinct volcano, Mt. Silver.

Sadly, Team Rocket isn't what it used to be. After Giovanni was sent to prison on a life sentence, the role of Team Rocket leader fell down the ranks. First to Koga, who refused it, then to Dr. Conner, and now to just Conner. But with every fall, more and more members were lost. Now, Team Rocket is like a dying rat, trying to crawl its way out of the sewers where it was pushed down into.

Its sad, if you think about it. Team Rocket, once the most powerful leaders in crime, so much so that even the police department were afraid of them, is now nothing more than small group of thugs, all of which have bounties on their heads.

Conner shut the door, walking down the massive cave interior. Though it was gloomy, he liked it. In fact, he was glad that Team Rocket ran out of money half way through the remodeling of this volcano. He walked by a Cryo Tube labeled 004. The tube was frosted over, a small sheet of ice covered the entire glass case. He ran is black leather glove over it, scrapping off the frosted ice. Inside was a frozen bird, Kyle's Pidgeot, to be precise. Conner then ran his hand over the frosted computer monitor hooked to the tube. He walked away, over to another tube; rubbing his hand on it, this one, was Beedrill. Once again, he checked the monitor. He walked to the last tube that was in that area. He ran his hand over it. Raticate.

"At least the morons were able to keep them alive." He then walked to the Cryo Tube labeled 001, which was located in front of his massive throne that was made out of the side of the caves wall. "But you shouldn't be alive, just yet." He placed a hand on the tube, scraping away the frost to show a small embryo of a collection of cells. "But, if you are able to stay alive in this state, I might as well let you develop fully."

He walked away, sitting down on his stone throne. He brought out his computer, hooking it up to a generator that was setting beside him, and then plugging up a mass a wires and cords into it. "Lets see. If cryogenic sleeping isn't to your liking, then maybe the embryonic bio-fluid would be." He checked the calculations three or four times before conforming what he had already said. "Yes, that would work perfectly. But I would have to step up my game. If I were to let … it, develop more quickly, I would require more DNA from more species for the mutations to take effect." He smiled as he brought up a hacked version of Debbie Gray's email. "And now I can, by steal all of Kyle's pokemon."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"So what do you plan to do, Richard?" A girl in a black Rocket outfit asked the man in the white lab coat, the one that Conner threatened earlier. "Do you think Conner would really…"

"Kill me?" Richard asked, dabbing bloody gouge on his neck with some alcohol. "I don't know. I was Dr. Conner's right hand man… before Conner took over."

"Yes but…" She looked down at the bloody rag he held in his hand. The bathroom wasn't exactly the best place to have an in-depth conversation like this, but with these tight confinements, it was the only place two people could really talk openly. "He's… not right, ya know?"

"Well, Rachel, what would you expect from some who killed his best friend when he was only 10?" He began to unbutton his bloody lab coat, as Rachel sat on the sink, watching him. "Personally, I don't even know how he has stayed alive this long. Supposedly, he was the one that did all those killings in Hoenn and Kanto."

"It wouldn't surprise me." Rachel said as Richard slipped into his clean coat. "The kid is crazy. Its like he lost is soul, or sold it to the devil."

"I can kind of understand what he's going through, but that doesn't mean he has the right to do what he's done."

"How so?" Rachel looked at Richard strangely. "Like, what has he been through that you know of?"

"Lets just say that he has lost everything." Richard buttoned the last button on his coat. "And lets leave it at that."

Rachel watched as he reached for the door. "Richard."

He stopped, and then turned to look at her. "Yes Rachel?"

"I…" She stood up, walking over to him, and taking his hand in hers. "I love you. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I love you too." He smiled as he leaned in and kissed her on the lips softly. "But you don't need to worry about me."

"But I have to!" She hugged him close. "You're the only one I have, and I just can't help but think that he's going to take you away from me!"

"You don't need to worry." He said with a smile as he hugged her close. "I promise you, one day, we will leave this death trap of an organization. We will make a new life for each other. We can live free, away from the bind of this awful place."

"Oh Richard." She closed her eyes, rubbing her head on his chest. "I want to be with you so bad."

He smiled, bringing his left hand to her face, showing a golden ring on his finger. "I promise, it will happen, my wife."

***_-Scene Change-_***

It had been hours since Conner went into the cryogenics lab. He was busy working on a new system set up, it required careful practice of thawing all the tubes, one by one, and filling them with suitable embryonic bi-fluid for each pokemon. Cryo 001, however, was different. Since it technically didn't have its own DNA structure, Conner had to create a bi-fluid for it so it could accept other DNA and mutate at a higher rate that was it was before.

Conner watched closely as Tube 004 filled up. The bird floated in the fluid as it coughed, inhaling the bi-fluid into its lungs. The fluid was very unique, it is actually the only type of fluid that can be breathed, like air, but it takes some getting use to. The pokemon put in this bi-fluid, however, will remain awake… most of the time, but not able to move. They would be in a paralyzed state while in the fluid was in their body, but not harmed. _Amazing stuff, that bio-fluid_.

"There now." Conner said, adding the final portion of fluid to Tube 001. "How stupid Giovanni was, thinking to clone the legendary Mew without altering it's behavior through genetics." A smile went across his face as he glanced at the forming embryo, now growing in size every minute. "I have perfected the fool's own idea. Mewthree will be more powerful than any other living creature on the face of the planet. And, be trainable at birth." He turned to walk away, as his evil laugh echoed through the dark cave.


	11. Spring Forward, No Falling Back

Chapter 10

Spring Forward, No Falling Back

We pulled up to the resort on the giant red motorcycle. Pichu was in the cup holder, as always, wearing his little goggles that keep the wind out of his eyes. He would have been wearing his small leather jacket that matches mine, but we both thought it was far too hot to wear those things.

I took off my helmet, looking up at the large gate that was in front of us. _This place looks more like a mansion than a resort._ "Well Pichu," I said, looking at the massive walls of the 30 or 40 story building that sat behind the gates. "Shall we go in?"

"Pi, Pichu!" He squeaked, pushing his goggles off his eyes and on top his head as he climbed on my shoulder. I took my helmet off, placing it in the storage unit on the bike, and then pushed the three-button combination making the bike poof back into its capsule form.

We walked up to the door, noticing there was no one around, anywhere. There was hot spring fountain sculptures littering the massive parking lot. _It makes sense that there would be a parking lot… but._ I turned around, looking at the path I took to get here. "There's no road."

"Of course not, ol' chap." An elderly man with a monocle and a fancy cane walking in front of us, the closed gate separating the old man from me and Pichu. He wasn't very tall, but he looked very rich. He wore a blue pin-striped tux, white button-up undershirt, and gold chains, which hung from every pocket he had. "The resort has yet to be finished." He spoke and a slight, but heavy British accent. "We hope to have it assembled within the next few months."

"Oh." I said, looking over at Pichu. "I'm sorry bud, it looks like we can't stay here."

"Pi…" Pichu flopped down on my shoulder. "Chuuu…" He started to tear up.

"Why can't you stay?" The man asked.

"Well, you said this resort wasn't open yet, so I just assumed…"

"Nonsense, chap!" The man said, pushing a button on a remote that he had in his pocket. When he did, the large iron gate began to open. "The name is Charles, my fine sir." The man bowed. "And as the owner of this fine establishment, I would be honored if you and your pokemon were our first guests." He rose, as he began to walk away. "Please, follow me." Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I did. Shortly after we made it into the resort, the gate slammed shut.

_Weird…_ I thought, but I kept it to myself, I didn't want to mess this one up with my rudeness.

"Do you mind if I give you the grand tour?" Charles asked. "I am quite pleased of my, soon to be, five star resort."

"Sure, I would love for you to." I smiled.

"Very well then." We walked in front of the massive building, stopping when we reached red wooden doors, even larger than the iron gates we saw before. Once again, Charles pushed a button on a remote, and the doors opened. Inside were, what looked like, black and white checkered marble tiles, lining all the floors, reproductions of masterpiece paintings littering all the walls, chandeliers of crystal and diamonds hanging from the ceiling, and red marble staircases the spiraled up. This whole place was so amazing I couldn't even speak as Charles started pointing out different wings of the resort, telling us all about it.

"In here we have the kitchen." He said. "Though we only have one five star chef on hand, we will soon have 500, one for every room." We walked a little further. "Here is the back exit, with 500 separate hot springs, one for every room. And, to make sure no one gets in the wrong spring," He brought out a card from his pocket. "Only one key can unlock the door for that hot spring."

"Wow, that's fancy." I said, still flabbergasted by all this… stuff.

"Indeed…" Charles said. "May we continue?"

_Wow… that was kindda snobbish._

For the next thirty minutes we went thought the rest of the resort. Training grounds for pokemon battles, workout stations, lounge rooms, pool halls, bar, casino, anything you could think of, this place had it.

"And this, is our final stop." He said, stopping beside a large red wooden door.

"This place is so big!" I said.

"Pi, chu!" Pichu squeaked, lying on my head, playing with my hair.

"Now, before I show you the last room, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Yes?" I asked, wondering what he could possibly want from me.

"Would you, Mr… Mr… I'm terribly sorry, young chap, but I don't think you have given me your name."

"Oh yeah." I laughed. "My name is Kyle, Kyle Gray."

"Gray, hum?" He put a finger to his chin. "That sounds familiar."

"Eah, you probably haven't heard of me." I put a hand behind my head as I chuckled. "I have done anything that great."

"Well," He shook his head. "Anyway, Mr. Gray. Seeing as how we will be opening our doors in a few months, I would like to ask a favor of you. Would you be willing to stay here a day or two, just to test our facility for us so we can make sure we have everything needed to open?"

"Why, I would love to." I said, looking around at all the fancy stuff. "But, I don't think I have enough money to afford this kind of luxury. I mean, I have never even dreamed of seeing things this… wealthy."

"You needn't worry about money, Mr. Gray." He said, pulling out the remote again. "You are my guest. Please, use everything in my resort at your own leisure. If there is anything you desire, just call room service and let me know." Charles then handed me the remote, a card, and a map of the resort. "This door we have stopped in front of is your room, Mr. Gray. Please, make yourself at home."

"Thank you so much!" I said as he walked away. "But, one thing."

"Yes, chap?" Charles asked, stopping to face me.

"In the tour I didn't see a PC System around, is there one I can use?"

"But of course." He chuckled. "There is one in every room. And soon, within the next few days actually, there will be a Pokemon Center in the east wing, with three nurse joys on hand."

"Wow. Thank you!" I said as he walked away. I looked over to Pichu. "Well, lets see what we got." I pushed the button, watching in amazement as the door to my room opened, showing lavish decor in a room that was almost three times the size of any Pokemon Center lobby I have ever been in before. There was the same marble checkered floor as before, with masterpiece replications on the walls. Gold highlights were on everything, even on the red felt fabric couches, chairs, and bed sheets. There was a real, but not necessary, fireplace, which was located directly below the 42" plasma screen HD TV. Ten foot tall mirrors were hung on the 15 foot walls. Crystal chandeliers, were hung from the ceiling.

"My, gosh…" I said, dropping my book bag on the marble floor. I couldn't believe it. _How in the world could someone be so rich they could afford to build this, and then give me a free pass because I came early?_

"Piiii!" Pichu cheered happily as he ran for the bed, jumping on it and messing up the covers. "Pi, hi hi!" He laughed.

"Pichu." I said, flopping down on the bed with him. "I have no idea how we landed a sweet deal like this. But man." I laughed. "This is so awesome!" I rolled over, seeing a PC System beside the bed. _Hmmm… I did come here for a reason._ I leaned up, and walked over to the system, plugging in my information. "Well." I said, rolling over my inbox. "Two new messages."

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray:**_

_**Subject: Return**_

_**Pokemon Number: 2468130 – Name: Scyther - has been returned.**_

"Well that was short and sweet." I said, rolling over the next message.

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray**_

_**Subject: Retrieval Needed**_

_**Pokemon Number: 2468130 – Name: Scyther – and Pokemon Number: 1357642 – Name: Primeape needs to be sent immediately. Transfer as reply to message.**_

"That's strange." I said. _Why would my mother send over Scyther if she wanted me to just send him back? And why would it matter if I replied to that message?_ "Oh well… I guess she knows what she's doing."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Conner had been working for hours on constructing the last of the thirteen holding tubes. In this new design he wouldn't have to manually put the pokemon into the holding containers anymore, instead they would be directly sent to them by Kyle himself. Every time Kyle attached one of his pokemon to a reply of Conner's hacked emails the pokemon would be deposited into their own special holding units.

Conner stood back, observing his handy work as Primeape appeared in holding tube 005. The bio-fluid filled his lungs as he coughed, inhaling the thick mixture of manipulated DNA structural liquid. Shortly after, Scizors appeared in tube 006.

"Scizors?" Conner tilted his head. "I wonder, did Kyle put a metal coat on it? If he did, Scyther could have evolved during the transfer from Kyle's system to mine." Conner laughed. "Oh well, like I care." He turned to walk over to tube 001. "As long as you grow, that's all I need Kyle for." He placed his hand on the tube, watching as the small forming body gained a pair of arms that looked like Scizors's.

Mewthree was mutating quite well for only being in this state for a few hours. He had already grew two wings from Pidgeot, hair on his neck from Primeape, a rear stinger from Beedrill, a tail from Raticate, and now, a set of arms from Scissors. "With these mutations, you will be the most powerful pokemon in the world. You will be able to use any move, any type of attack, and be immune to every attack." Conner turned his head to look at the other tubes. "All I need is the other ones."

He walked behind the tubes, making his way to his throne when a large tv over the cave room entrance turned on.

"Mr. Conner." A man in a British accent spoke. "We have a visitor at our resort."

"Why does that concern me?" Conner barked, throwing one leg over the arm rest of his throne.

"It is a Mr. Kyle Gray, sir."

Conner didn't say anything, instead he just put a finger to his chin, thinking about the situation.

"Sir?"

"Get him anything he wants." Conner said. "Make him feel at home, like he has never felt before. Wait on him hand and foot."

"Yes, sir." The man said, about to click off the call.

"One more thing." Conner said. "I want him under 24 hour video surveillance. I want to know what he's up too."

"Of course, yes sir. It will be done." With that, the connection was cut.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Alright you guys!" I said, hopping into the hot spring that was located around back of the resort. "This is your next training. Everyone get in!" I watched almost humorously as Pichu, Kabuto and Umbreon jumped in without thinking, while Arcanine, Slugma and Quilava stayed about five feet away from the water.

"Oh, come on you three." I said, getting out of the water and walking over to Arcanine. "This water is as hot as it gets, so it wont hurt you very much to get in it." I ran my hand through Arcanine's massive hair. "And on top of that, the more used you get to water, the less damage you will take during battle to water attacks."

"Arrnn." Arcanine took a gulp as he lowered a paw into the water. His eyes opened wide when he realized it didn't hurt. "Arf arf!" He yipped as he walked into the water, and slowly started to sit down, sinking his whole body up to his head in the hot water.

"That's great Arcanine!" I cheered. "That water didn't hurt at all did it?"

I watched as Quilava began to step into the hot spring, and, like Arcanine, he went right in, sitting in the water. "Quil…" He let out a sigh of relief.

"That's so great you two!" I said, then I looked over at Slugma. "Do you want to give it a try?"

Slugma didn't say anything, he just stared and looked at the water.

"Arf, arf, arf!" Arcanine barked happily.

"Quil, Quil, lava!" Quilava added.

"Slug…" The silver lava clump slowly made his way to the waters edge. _I don't know if this is a good thing or not. The water might make his body harden up, but this would be the best way to find out._ Slugma inched his way closer to the water, slowly placing a small drop of this lava body into the hot spring. I watched as the drop slowly turned to a hard stone, but Slugma didn't seem to mind. He took the drop back out, and almost instantly it turned back into his lava body.

"Alright." I said, walking up behind him. "You don't have to get in if you don't want to, but if you do get in I don't want you staying there very long. Your body just isn't meant to be in water. Do you understand?"

"Slug, slug!" He said in his deep voice happily as he slid into the water. His silver body turned to a silver stone, but, some how, he was still able to move. He walked around the inside of the hot spring, almost like he was trying to run laps.

"This is absolutely amazing." I said, watching as my three fire type pokemon were having fun and even playing in water. "Maybe with a little more training like this, they could build up an immunity of some sort to water.

Near the entrance of the hot spring a camera began to turn, facing Kyle and his pokemon. The lens zoomed in, getting them in focus. It began to record, capturing every move they made.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Well, did you all enjoy your three-hour-swim?" I asked, running a towel through my thick brown hair. We were in the towel room, right outside of the hot spring, getting dried off.

"Woof!" Arcanine barked, shaking all over to get the water off of him, only to get it on everyone else.

"Arcanine!" I laughed, holding my towel up to block the water.

"Pi-chu!" Pichu whined as he began to get covered with water.

We all laughed, drying off once again, before heading out of the towel room, and down the hall to our resort stay. I opened the door, letting all of them run in. Arcanine, Slugma, and Quilava huddled up by the active fireplace while Pichu ran straight for the bed. Kabuto, I don't know why, went for the bathroom. _I guess he wants to be in more water._ I followed him in there as Umbreon curled up on the rug that was laying in the sunlight next to the open window.

When me and Kabuto got into the bathroom I began to fill up the fancy looking bath tub. The automatic jet streams created a small whirlpool in the water.

"There, is this what you wanted?" I asked, picking up the horseshoe crab.

"Buto, buto!" He scraped his claws happily as I put him into the water.

"Eeeeerrrrrrr-eeeee." I heard.

_ That's a strange sound._ I turned around to see a security camera over in the corner of the bathroom. It was facing me, zooming in on me putting Kabuto in the bath. _That's really weird. Well… in a place like this I guess they cant be too safe._ I got up, walking out. "Hey, if you need anything just let me know, okay?"

"Boooo-oo-oo too-o—o-o." He said in bubbles under the water.

I walked into the main room, looking at all the pokemon lying on the floor. I looked up to the ceiling. Once again, there was a security camera, this time, over the plasma screen TV.

"Hmm…" I looked around the room at all the stuff. _I guess it makes sense to have cameras everywhere. I mean, there must be about five or six hundred thousand dollars in décor in just this one room._ I glanced around again. _All of the rooms cant be like this one, that would just be insane. I bet I got the presidential suite, or something._ "Yeah, that would explain all the cameras." I said, flopping down on the bed.

I just laid there for a moment, taking all this in. Just then, I heard my stomach growl. It was then that I realized I hadn't ate since last night at the pokecenter when Ricky and I showed up there.

"Hey, are you guys hungry? Cause I'm starving." When I said that, I saw all of them raise their head up. Even Kabuto stuck his head out of the water and began to cheep. "Alright I guess that's a yes." I reached over to the phone that was laying beside my bed. When I picked it automatically began to ring in to somewhere.

"Main chef's office." A man in a French accent picked up.

"Oh that's great!" I said, happy. "I would like to order some room service."

"Vut of Course." The man commented back. "Vot may I get for you?"

"Okay, I want some BBQ Ribs, full rack. And … Umm." I said looking around the room. I looked at Arcanine. "I want three steaks, rare." Then to Umbreon. "Umm… better make that six steaks." I then looked to Quilava, and then Pichu. "I also want two giant arrangements of fruits, nuts, and berries. And… if you can…" I looked over to Kabuto and Slugma. "Could you also send up a bucket full of pond scum and rocks?"

"Pond scum?" The man on the phone asked shocked.

"Yes, pond scum, and rocks."

"Uhhh… Vot every you say, zee customer is alvays vight."

"Oh yeah, the drinks. I want some ginger ale, and a large tub of water."

"Um… Alright… Ve shall ving it up as soon as possible." With that, the man hung up.

"Alright guys, food's on the way." I said, reaching for the remote to turn on the plasma screen tv. "Lets relax, you all deserve it, after how hard you trained today." We all laughed when I mentioned the 'hard training'.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"How can Conner say that?" Charles asked to the head chef that had just hung up with Kyle. "Just, '_Give him anything he wants'_? You would think with us having Kyle Gray in our grasp he would do something else."

"Eah…" The chef sighed as he pulled out six steaks and a full rack of ribs from the freezer. "Viy are you complaining? Is doing nothing not good?"

"Not when you are talking about the future of Team Rocket." Charles snapped. "Conner has been trailing that brat since that scuffle at the Seafoam Islands, and now that we have him, we do nothing?"

"Viy don't you just follow zee orders?" The chef asked. "Zated be much better to do as he says."

"I can't!" Charles barked. "Conner has been after his pokemon, and I will get one for him." He raised his head high. "I am tired of being the stupid grunt in a disguise. I want my own name, I want my own ranking in team rocket." When he said this, his British accent was gone.

"Aye… Vew votever you want." The chef bent over grabbing two five gallon buckets. "Vut, for me, I vill follow my orders."

Charles looked at him oddly as he walked away with the two buckets in hand. "What are you doing with those?"

"Eah…" He sighed. "Zee customer is alvays vight"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Everyone, with the exception of Kabuto, was watching the TV when there was a knock on the door.

"Room service!" A female voice said.

"Alright guys!" I jumped up from the bed. "Looks like the food's here!"

"Bu-to-to!" Kabuto jumped out of the bathtub, scurrying as fast as he could to the door.

"Alright, calm down!" I said with a laugh as I made my way to the door, Kabuto clinging to my leg. I opened the door, seeing the 18-year-old, or around there, room service girl in a maid's outfit. Lacy lingerie from chest to legs, black see-through stockings, and who knew what else. _What the crap? I didn't order a hooker._

"Mr. Gray?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, that's me. Um… can I have my food?" I asked, pointing at the dishes on the massive tray cart she was pushing.

"But of course." She said, turning the cart to face the door. "May I come in?"

"Um.. sure… I guess." I held the door open as she wheeled the massive tray cart into the room.

"I have an order of six steaks." She said holding up a dish with the meat on it. Arcanine and Umbreon sat down beside her, wagging their tails and giving her puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, those are theirs." I said. "Just put three in front of Arcanine and three in front of Umbreon."

"Alright." She said, picking up the steaks. "I'm pretty good at handling meat."

_I wouldn't doubt that._ I thought as I rolled my eyes.

"Alright." She bent over, bringing up a giant salad bowl. "This has fruits, berries, and nuts." She said with a wink.

"Uhh…" I groaned annoyed. "Those are Pichu's and Quilava." I said, pointing over to them. "They can share a bowl."

"Okay." She said, placing the bowl down in front of them as they all but jumped into the bowl, getting lost in the mass of berries and fruits. The girl then walked back over to the cart, bringing out two five gallon buckets, which she couldn't carry.

"Here, let me help." I said, walking over to her and picking up the bucket of rocks. Kabuto, still being on my leg, jumped straight into the bucket she was carrying, burrowing into the pond scum.

"Bu-to-to-to!"

"Ahhh!" She screamed, dropping the bucket, making some slosh out on the floor.

"Oh, don't worry about that." I said, bringing the rocks over to Slugma. "He'll eat it up later."

"Okay…" She looked shocked, but then walked back over to the tray cart. She pushed a button on the side of it, making the bottom compartment of the cart slide on the ground. In the compartment was giant tub of ice water.

"Alright you guys," I said with a smile. "Here's your water!"

"And, something for you." The girl said, putting a champagne bottle in my hand, trying to force herself on me.

"Umm.. that's not Ginger Ale." I backed away, tripping on the rug and falling backwards over the couch, landing on it upside down. _Well… what a predicament I'm in… if Ricky was here I know what he would do._ I turned my head, looking at the fireplace under the TV when I noticed something, something rectangular and black.

"Oh my gosh!" I screamed, swinging my feet around, accidently kicking the girl in the face with my steel-toed boot when I did. "Is that a new Z-Box? Oh my gosh! I have never even seen one of those! Those things cost so much!" I smiled, looking back at the girl, but when I saw her, my smile went away. "Oh crap." There she was, laying flat on the ground, knocked out, with a black eye.

"Crap, crap, crap." I said, shaking my head. "Great, now I'm going to be known as the pokemon master that beats up women!" I looked back down at her, and then tilted my head to look at something that was on her neck. It was red, but it didn't look like blood. _Is that?_ My eyes opened wide as I saw there was a giant red 'R' tattooed on her neck.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Var you sure you should ve doing vis?" The chef asked, as Charles turned on the security camera to Kyle's room.

"Well, it's not on my head if that girl doesn't do her job." Charles said as he began to scan the room. "That lovely girl is a top member of Team Rocket, she will get the job done."

"Vowe do you know she will not take zee pokemon vinstead of giving zem to us?" The chef asked.

"Because that's the beauty of blackmail. She would never double cross me, I own that whore." Charles scanned the room again. The camera over top of the TV wasn't picking up anything. He could see the bed, the massive living room area, but nothing else, he couldn't even see the pokemon. "I wonder…" He switched to the camera in the bathroom, but found nothing.

"Ver could zey be?" The chef asked.

"I don't know." Charles said, grabbing his cane. "Lets get up there and see." They both ran down the hall, passing over all the ground between them and Kyle. They ran up to his door, getting on both sides of the door.

"Shhh!" Charles shushed as they listened close. They could hear something, something faint, then out of nowhere. _**POW!**_

They both jumped. "Vas that a gunshot?" The chef asked, only to be followed by the sound of glass breaking. "And vot vas that?"

"I don't know." Charles said, standing in front of the door, ready to kick it in. "But we're going to find out!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Alright." I said, placing the controller in the girl's hand. She was still knocked out, but maybe this would buy me some time. I had her propped up on the couch, with the Z-Box on, playing Heavenly Light, the latest, most gory video game where you play as a decked out army dude in this awesome suit of armor and kill aliens! _Okay, so maybe I took a few minutes while the girl was knocked out to play a few levels on the game. But who cares? I love games!_

I already had all my pokemon recalled except for Arcanine, who was standing under the camera where no one could see him. It was pretty lucky, but the couch is also located under the camera, in a place that looks like it wouldn't be visible.

"Alright." I said, looking at Arcanine. "I don't know what these Rockets want with me, but I'm getting out of here. You ready boy?"

"Arf!" He said. But as soon as he barked I heard footsteps run and stop outside the door.

"Crap… they noticed I was on the camera." I looked over at him. "It's now or never." I walked over to the controller in the girl's hand, pushing the start button, making it go out of pause.

"_**POW!**_" The surround sound echoed through the room as a gun went off on the video game.

"Time to go!" I said, hopping on Arcanine's back as he ran to the window, breaking it as he jumped through it. We were only on the second story, so the landing wasn't that bad.

"Alright!" I said, pointing north. "Go that way! We need to get to Ecruteak City!"

"Hold it!" Charles screamed, looking out the broken glass. "Kyle Gray! Stop right there!"

"Or what, you old fart?" I yelled. "Okay boy, lets go!"

"Arf!" We took off, running through the long field of hot springs, jumping over or breaking through the bamboo walls that separated them. We ran for quite a while before the security system went off. Alarms were ringing all around us. Barbwire fences were jetting out of the round only inches in front of us. They were coming up so fast and close that Arcanine couldn't jump them, so with every new fence we had to turn, weaving our way through the maze that shot up from the ground. We kept running for a few minutes before we realized, we were trapped, in closed with fences. Not only that, but we had also ran around in circles, and were now back at the front of the building.

We stopped, looking around at the barbwire box we were in. "It's about time you stopped." Charles said from behind me, near the entrance, and outside of the cage we were trapped in. I turned Arcanine around to face him. "Now, why don't you give me your pokemon, ol' chap?"

"Is that what all this was about?" I asked, flabbergasted. "You orchestrated this whole thing just because Team Rocket wanted my pokemon?"

"Eah, so you found us out, but, no. This really is a resort." Charles said. "But now we are probably going to be delayed another six months just for the repair work of the damages you caused!"

I turned my head to look at all the splintered bamboo fences and the torn up ground from the security system. "What was up with the freakin' Rocket hooker?" I yelled, turning around to him. "Isn't prostitution illegal?"

"It is in Kanto." Charles said. "But it is perfectly legal here in Johto."

"And what do you want with my pokemon anyway?" I barked.

"Its not what I want, necessarily, it's what my boss wants."

"Your boss?" I asked. "Giovanni?" _I could of sworn Shonna and I put him in prison._

"Giovanni? Ha!" Charles laughed. "Of course not! I'm talking about our new leader, Conner."

"Conner, huh?" I asked, as a smile went across my face. "Thanks, you old fart! Now that I know his name I'm going to put a stop to your little organization!"

"Ha!" Charles laughed. "And how do you plan on doing that, you're trapped."

"Am I?" I asked, as Arcanine let out a flamethrower attack that melted a giant hole all the metal fences in front of us. "Thanks for all the information. That's exactly what I wanted to know!" I gave him a wave as I rode off on Arcanine. "See you in the papers, '_ol' chap'._"

Charles watched dumbfounded as we rode off. The chef, who had been inside for most of this, now walked over behind him. "Vu know…" he said. "Conn-or is not going to like this."

"I'll think of something…"

"Vot did I tell you, do as you're told, vot nooooo! You don't listen to me! Nooooo!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

It was late when we arrived in Ecruteak City, probably about 1am or so. The stars were out in the sky, and they lit our way into town. This town was peaceful, very few lights, and not that many houses either. It looked like a very small town, but that was from the nighttime, I'm sure it would be a different story in the daytime.

We first stopped at the police department. I dismounted from Arcanine as we both walked in, heading straight for the cop at the front desk. _I don't know why, but I have always hated cops. I guess it could be the fact that I ran from them my whole life up to this point. Underage gambling, fights, races, speeding, running from the law, who knows? But now, I need them._

"What may I do for you?" A man in a cop outfit asked as he shoved a doughnut down his throat.

"I would like to report a Team Rocket hideout." I said, looking at him sternly.

"Um… okay." He got out a pencil and paper. "Where do you think it is?"

"It's about 70 miles south." I pointed. "They are disguising it as a Hot Spring Resort, but it is really a Rocket hide out."

"Wait, 70 miles south?" The man asked.

"Yes." I answered.

"Kid, that's in the middle of nowhere." He said, spitting doughnut on the desk as he spoke. "And, there's no hot springs around here."

"Sir,"_ I hated called him that._ "I know how it sounds, but it's there!"

"And what were you doing there?"

"I thought it was a real resort, so I stayed there, next thing I know they are trying to steal my pokemon!"

"Kid, this isn't a place for jokes."

"This isn't a joke!" By this point I was getting mad. "I also heard them talking, something about their leader. His name was Conner."

This got his attention. "Conner, you say?"

"Yes, Conner."

"Hmmm…" He placed a hand to his chin. "Well, with the mention of that name, it very well could be a Rocket hide out. But son, Conner is dead, or so our reports say."

"What?" I asked. "How do you know that? They said they wanted my pokemon for their leader, Conner. I heard them say that."

"When the police department first busted Giovanni we found documents that say his next person in line for command was a man named Dr. Conner, but Giovanni reported he died at the Seafoam Islands, or, something like that."

My eyes widened as I remembered the man that wore a white mask. _Was that, Conner? If it was, how is he still alive? And… my pokemon, Charles said he wanted my pokemon. Is he, looking for Articuno?"_

"Son?" The cop asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine." I said, walking out. "It's been a rough day, ya know?"

"Yeah, thanks for the information, kid. We will look into it A.S.A.P."

I walked out of the station, putting Arcanine back in his pokeball. _Great, now I have more things to worry about._ I walked into the pokecenter, signing in and taking my key. I walked back to my room, placing my book bag on the bed and unzipping it, letting Pichu roll out on the covers.

"Pi-i-i-i." He shook his head dizzily.

"I'm sorry Pichu, but I couldn't have you running around with all that was going on. But," I reached into my bag, grabbing one of my sleeping pills and popping it into my mouth. "Its time to go to bed, we have a big day tomorrow. Another gym match."

With that I turned off the light, closing my eyes, but I couldn't help but think about that man in the Seafoam Islands. Dr. Conner.


	12. The Tower of Haunter

Chapter 11

The Tower of Haunter

I rolled over the next day, hitting the snooze on the annoying alarm clock. _I don't know who in the right mind would wake up at 6am_. I was too tired to care, or even get up to find out how to turn the stupid thing off. I figured that if I did try to figure it out I would only wake myself up in the process, and defeat the purpose, so I just kept hitting the snooze.

I glanced at the clock before closing my eyes again. "Is it really 8:00 am? Arrrggg…" I groaned. "Too early."

"Hey!" A voice echoed through the wall. "Turn that stupid thing off! People are trying to sleep!"

"Hey! Shut up! I'm trying to sleep too!" I screamed back through the wall, which frightened Pichu, and made him cuddle up next to me.

"Piiii…" He whined.

"Eh…" I groaned, raising up. "Alright, I guess we'll get up." I reached for my glasses over on the nightstand, putting them on before looking over at the clock. I examined it all over. _This stupid thing doesn't have an off…_ "Well, I suppose there's one way to fix that." I reached behind the nightstand it was on, finding the cord and yanking it out of the wall outlet. "There, problem solved."

"Pi…" Pichu peeked his head out from the pillow he was hiding under. He yawned, sat up, and wiped eye gunk out of his eyes.

"Heh." I chuckled, picking him up. "You're just too cute, you know that?"

"Pi!" He smiled happily as he ran around on my shoulder.

***_-Scene Change-_***

After me and Pichu came back from the showers, we dried off, I put my clothes on, and we walked out to the nurse Joy at the front desk.

"May I help you?" She asked with a smile as I finished drying my long brown hair. I always liked having longer hair, about 5 or 6 inches, but with me having curls, anything more than that was just too much. Right now, I almost had a fro going on.

"Yeah." I said, wadding the towel up and placing it on the counter. "I'm going to be checking out."

"Alright." She pulled out a clipboard from under the desk. "Room number and name please."

"Room 12, and Kyle." I placed my room key on the counter as well. "I have all my stuff picked up and everything should be in order. I don't know if I will be coming back tonight, so you might as well sign me out."

"Okay. Thank you Mr. Kyle." She nodded as we walked out of the center.

The sun looked like it just rose up above the foot mountains that led up to Mt. Silver. _I must say, this place is beautiful, and if anything, it reminds me so much of Pewter City in Kanto. In some ways I wish I had stayed there more when I was traveling. But…_ I placed a hand to my heart, feeling it beat faster as I thought of Shonna's face when we met up after Mt. Moon. _If I did… I might would have never seen here again, or met her in general._

"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu pointed, bringing me out of my daydream. I looked up, seeing that he was pointing at this very large burnt down tower that was barely standing, but thanks to the sturdy structure, it was indeed standing.

"Wow." I said looking up at it. _If I were to guess it had about 10 or so stories on it._ It was located a little ways out of town, and was so large that even from the Pokecenter it made the buildings in town look so small. "Hey," I said, looking over at Pichu. "It's probably not safe, but do you want to go check it out anyway?"

"Pii!" He squeaked happily as we started to run down the dirt path to it. _This day might have started out crappy, but I bet we can get an adventure or two in._

***_-Scene Change-_***

Conner was sitting on his throne, monitoring the containment levels of the pokemon one last time before he left, to continue his pursuit of Kyle.

"Everything seems to be in order." He said, running his finger through the list of contacts on his over hanging plasma screen video telephone. "Lets just check up on Kyle at the resort. I want to keep him there long enough for me to catch up to him." When he found the number he rang it though. It rang once, twice, a third time, and no answer. He let it ring more. Four, five, six, all the way up to ten times it rang, and nothing.

Conner's eyebrow twitched as it kept ringing. "If those fools value their lives at all they had better pick up." It rang again, and again, until Charles finally answered.

"Yes, sir?" He asked hesitantly.

"What took you?" Conner asked annoyed.

"I was tending to other matters at the time. I'm sorry sir." Charles bowed.

"What kind of matters?"

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about sir." Charles pleaded. "It's noting at all, just management, that's all."

"Well…" Conner paused. "I called to check on Kyle. I take it he's still there?"

"Well… You… You see…" Charles hesitated. "He um… he, checked out."

"Checked out?" Conner stood. "When?"

"Um… Yesterday evening…"

Conner looked at the screen, watching as Charles eyes shifted left and right, hanging his head low. "Charles." Conner spoke calmly.

"Yes, sir?"

"Tell me now if you're lying." Charles didn't say anything, so Conner continued. "Tell me the truth now, because if I find out you gave me faulty information…"

Charles gulped as he spoke again. "No, its all true, he signed out last night! I swear!"

"Alright." Conner said, knowing he had been lied too. "That would be all. Its nice to know I have people I can trust in Team Rocket." Charles eyes widened. "And for being such a good member to our organization, I think I will have you promoted."

"Oh, thank you so much, sir!" Charles beamed with happiness. "Thank you so much!"

"I will send some one over right away to award you with your promotion." After he said that, Conner cut the connecting. He turned back to his throne, sitting down as he made an announcement over the entire Rocket facility. "Richard." He echoed. "Come to my quarters, immediately."

Shortly after, Richard came through the large double doors at the entrance of the cavern room. "Yes sir?" He asked, shutting the door behind him.

"Richard." Conner put a finger to his chin. "I don't know what my father saw in you. I have kept you around just for the amusement of toying with his little pet. But…" Conner stood, walking over to him. "I have grown tired of you failing at everything I assign you with. So I have decided to give you one last task. If you fail at this then I'll…"

"Kill me?" Richard interrupted. "Like you do everyone else that you don't get along with?"

"Oh… no…" Conner said, bringing out a switchblade form his pocket. "I wouldn't kill you, you are too much fun to play with. No, instead, I'll think I'll go for something more worth my time."

Richard gritted his teeth. "What do you mean?"

"Well… let's just say that I enjoy women much more than men." He ran the blade over Richard's left hand, grazing his wedding ring.

Richard jumped back, looking at him with hate in his eyes. "If you ever lay one finger on her I'll-"

"What? Kill me?" Conner chuckled, mimicking what Richard said only seconds before. "If you don't want Rachael's blood all over this cave floor I suggest you do what I say."

Richard gritted his teeth. He couldn't take this any more, Conner was a monster, and needed to be stopped, now!

He waited for Conner to turn his back, when he did Richard reached for a scalpel that was in his pocket. He ran at Conner, knife in the air as he swung it. But Conner was expecting it. He moved to the right, making Richard's attack miss and making him trip under the force of the swing. Conner wrapped his arm around Richard's neck, putting a knee on his back, forcing him to the ground. With the other hand he held the switchblade to Richard's neck, carving into his skin.

"Richard, Richard." He said. "I'm giving you the choice of saving your wife or letting her die, and you want to piss me off. That's not very smart."

"You…" Richard gasped. "I'll send you to Hell if you ever lay a fi-"

"Oh, I know, I know." Conner interrupted. "But you _can_ save her, all you need to do is one little thing for me."

Richard waited for a moment before speaking. "What is it?"

A smile went across Conner's face. "There is someone at the Rocket Hot Spring Resort that double crossed me, and I don't have time to take care of him myself."

"So you want me to kill him?"

"One person is going to die, you just have to pick which one." Conner said as he released Richard, then turned his back as he walked away. "Either way, you have until sunset today. Oh yeah." He stopped when he reached the door. "Richard, you will know him right away, he'll be the one that's begging for a promotion. And don't disappoint me, I want proof you did it. If I have to cancel my plans because of your failure… well, lets just say I'll want to take some of my stress out on your wife before I kill her." With that he shut the door, leaving Richard alone in the room.

***_-Scene Change-_***

The way back to the burnt out tower was long and curvy. It was so underused that small trees and shrubs were jutting out of the almost nonexistent trail. I pushed a bush away, revealing a sign beside the path.

_**Beware!**_

_**Beyond this point lies the haunted Burnt Tower. It was once said that the legendary bird pokemon, Ho-oh, lived at the top of this tower, but now it is a forbidden wasteland, haunted by ghosts of all types. Because of humanities cruel nature, Ho-oh left 300 years ago, and has never been seen since.**_

My thoughts trailed back to when I was with Misty in the Seafoam Islands. When we first saw Articuno she said that the bird hadn't been seen in 300 years. _I wonder if all the legendary pokemon vanished at the same time?_

"Pi! Cha!" Pichu pointed ahead, distracting me from my train of thought. _You know, that little guy does that a lot._ I looked up ahead to see a large stone stairway past a few trees.

"That must be the way up." I said with a smile. "Let's go! We ain't fraid' no ghost!" I joked.

"Pi!" Pichu put up his hand in victory as I ran to the stairs, and then up them, Pichu on my shoulder the whole time.

When we rounded the top of the stairs we stopped and looked at the old building. The thing was huge, but about to fall apart. _Of course, what did I expect from something that burned up 300 years ago?_ I placed my hand on the door, pushing it open and it all but fell off its hedges. It was still attached to the frame of the house, but only by a little piece of charred wood that was barely able to support the weight.

We walked in; watching as the soot around us, on the walls and ceiling, fell to the floor.

"Pi…" Pichu ducked in my book bag, only sticking his head out for a second before sticking it back in. But that one little second was enough for him to catch a glimpse of something… something, dark… with big eyes, glairing back at him.

"Piiii!" Pichu screamed as he ducked back into my book bag.

"What? What is it?" I turned to look where he was facing, but I didn't see anything. "Pichu don't scare me like that."

"Pi-picha-pi!" He pleaded as he stuck his head back out of the bag, but once again, when he did, he saw the same thing again, this time it was over hovering over my head.

"Piii!" He pointed as he screamed.

"What now?" I looked up, but there was nothing there. "Pichu!" I barked at him as I turned my head to face him. "Cut it out! I mean it!"

"Pi…" Pichu ducked down into the book bag again, but when he did he noticed the spooky thing showed itself again, this time flying straight for me.

"Pii!" Pichu jumped up on my shoulder, letting out a thunderbolt. "Chuuuuu!" I saw the lighting jump from Pichu as it struck something almost invisible in the dark room… something purple, and floating.

"Is that?" I looked closely as it fell to the ground, knocked out. "It is. It's nothing more than a little Gastly." I walked over too it, pulling out a full restore from my book bag and giving it to him. His eyes started to open as I sprayed the pokemon down.

"Gas… gas… LY!" It jumped up as he noticed me, almost like it was scared.

"Hey, its okay." I smiled. "We didn't mean to hurt you, you just scared us that's all."

"Gast, gast, gast…" It whined, backing up from me.

"Hey it's okay, really." I said stepping closer to it as it backed away further. "We don't want to hurt you."

"Gast…" It backed up more, and then began to cry. "GasstlllLLLYYYY!" It screamed. When it did I saw red eyes start to glow all around me. The pitch-black room was now covered with red peering eyes that swarmed and moved around the room.

_This isn't good._ I grit my teeth. _Wherever there are Gastley's there are always the meaner evolutions._

The eyes on the walls moved around so fast that before long the whole room looked like it was solid red, red as blood. It even started to give that illusion as I saw blood drops start running down the walls, pouring onto the floor.

"I know this is just and illusion." I said to myself as I watched the blood start coming towards me on all sides. _Those crafty little buggers have a nice way of hiding themselves. I can't tell if they are on the walls or on the floors in the drops that are getting closer._ "But, I guess there's one way to find out." I reached for the pokeball on my belt as I tossed it out. "Umbreon!"

"Bree!" Umbreon stood strong, looking around the room, knowing exactly what to do. A dark aura started to pour out of Umbreon in all directions, creating a dome of dark energy that struck every wall of the building at the same time. After the Dark Pulse attack was done, I watched as five Haunters and about thirty Gastly fell to the ground knocked out. _I guess the super effective type advantage was too much for them._

Almost as soon as the pokemon fell a loud call echoed through the tower. "Gaaaarrrrrrrr!" It called out as a giant shadow started to form in front of us. It grew and grew until it was about 10 feet tall.

"Holy crap!" I said, looking at the huge Gengar that stood in front of me. "That thing is bigger than any Gengar I have ever seen! It's even bigger than a Snorlax!"

"Yes." A voice said from behind the Gengar. "And if you attack any more pokemon here you will have to answer to him, as well as me." The man step to the side of Gengar, showing himself to me. He was fairly tall, and wore a blue sweater with red stripes, and a headband to match it, which helped to show off his spiked back blonde hair.

"You know, we didn't mean to hurt anyone. We just wanted to see what was inside this place." I said, standing up straight as Umbreon still took a fighting stance. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I am Morty, Leader of the Ecruteak City gym, and you are trespassing on a ghost type pokemon sanctuary." He said, putting a hand on his hip as he tried to act all cool. "Now, I will ask you to please leave the premises, or stay and have a fight with me."

"Alright. I'll leave." I said, recalling Umbreon. "But in return for me leaving, I would like a battle with you. A gym battle, at your gym in one hour." I smiled, putting Umbreon's pokeball back on my belt. "Deal?"

"Hmm." Morty smiled. "So you must be him." He recalled the massive Gengar before speaking again. "You must be the one that all the gym leaders have been talking about. Yes, you're Kyle Gray."

"Really? They have been talking about me?" I asked. "Only good things, I hope."

"I suppose it's good for your reputation." He chuckled. "Supposedly you have completely sweeped three gyms in less than two weeks."

"Well…" I started counting to myself. "Yeah, I think so."

"That is absolutely amazing." Morty closed his eyes, crossing his arms. "But, what can you expect from the 'Pokemon Master'?"

"Oh please." I placed a hand behind my head. "I'm not that great, really."

"Anyway, I would be honored to have a battle with you." He turned to walk away, and, not having anything better to do, I followed him. "One hour would be plenty of time for me to get my gym ready. Oh, something else," He asked. "Two of the gym leaders said you had a friend, some red head hot shot. Is he not with you now?"

"Pft." I spat as Pichu ran back on my shoulder. "He was never with me, he just refused to leave. But, no, I gave him the slip back in Goldenrod. I don't think it will last for long though, that guy is like a bad penny, he always turns up somewhere."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Man!" Ricky said, riding into Ecruteak City on his Dodrio. "I swear, leave for a little while to go have some fun and the guy cuts town on me. I just hope I'm not that far behind." He glanced around, looking at the small town. "Man, talk about a dump." He said. "There's not even a good burger joint in this place." He glanced around, searching for a Pokecenter. When he caught a glance of one him and his Dodrio took off for it.

Ricky hopped off Dodrio's back, recalling it at he walked inside. This Pokecenter was small, very small, maybe even only a ten room, which was nothing compared to Goldenrod's massive one.

"Hello. Welcome to the Ecruteak Pokecenter." Nurse Joy said with a smile. "How may I help you today?"

"Hey babe." Ricky said, resting his arm on the counter. "I'm looking for someone…"

"And who would that be?" Nurse Joy asked, watching Ricky pull a hand though his red hair, tucking a lock of it behind his ear.

Ricky glanced at her from the corner of his eye, and then dazed off into space, looking away from her again. "His name is Gray. I'm sure he would have come here at some point."

"Gray?" Joy pulled out a clipboard from under the desk. "No, I don't see a 'Gray'."

He directed his gaze back to her with his red eyes. "His first name is Kyle. Is that on your list?"

"Oh yes. There was this Kyle that came in last night, and left early this morning." Nurse Joy said, looking deeply into his eyes.

"Did he check out?"

"Oh… umm… no." She blushed as she spoke, looking into Ricky's eyes more. "He um… just left… I think he'll be back. Do you know him?"

"Hmm." Ricky grinned as he raised up. "Yeah, me and the 'Pokemon Master' go back a long way. I am actually the one that helped him with his training back in Kanto." Ricky lied.

"Wow!" Joy gasped. "Is he really _the_ Kyle Gray?"

"Yeah. And if it wasn't for me he wouldn't of won last year either. But…" Ricky leaned in close to Nurse Joy, placing a finger under her chin as he whispered in her ear. "That's enough about me. What I really want is to find out more about you."

"Wha-what would you like to know?" Joy blushed more, looking away as he kissed on her neck.

"Mmm." Ricky softly moaned as he took a key from under the desk, twirling it around on his finger. "Why don't we get more acquainted… alone."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The so-called gym that Morty lead me into looked more like a cemetery than a battle field. Tombstones lined the floor creating a maze of some sort. There were black ripped clothes hanging from the ceiling, grass growing on the ground, vines and ivy over the tombstones, and Gastly floated around everywhere.

"This will be a three on three battle!" Morty called as I took my side of the field. "The winner of this match will be rewarded a Fog Badge. I am not allowed to substitute, the challenger, on the other hand, is." Morty reached for a pokeball on his belt. "Now choose your pokemon wisely, because this will be a match you won't soon forget! Go, Gastly!"

Out of the pokeball floated a purple mist that formed into a ball with red eyes. "Gastly!"

"Heh." I chuckled. "A Gastly? We can make quick work of that." I readied the pokeball in my hand.

"Are you going to use that Umbreon that I saw earlier?" Morty asked.

"Nope." I smiled. "Umbreon and Gengar have some unfinished business, so I'll be saving him for last. Now, go Kabuto!"

The crab hopped onto the field, looking around and then running back to my leg. "Bu-to-to-to!" He laughed, hugging my leg.

"Pi…" Pichu looked at him from my shoulder jealously.

"Alright, I've missed you too, but we've got a battle to win." I smiled, pushing him back on the battlefield.

"Hmm." Morty put a finger to his chin. "Tell me, where did you get that rare pokemon? I thought the went extinct millions of years ago."

"Well, back in Kanto there is this place where you can revive your old fossils that you find. They say that it's still experimental, but so far they have successfully revived two… well, almost successfully." I looked back at Kabuto who was jumping on the ground, dancing as he kicked a piece of broken tombstone, playing around. "You see… though there isn't anything physically wrong with Kabuto… he's… um… kinda…."

"Special?" Morty asked.

"Yeah." I laughed, placing a hand behind my head. "That's a good word for it. But don't let that fool you, he is very strong, we have been training a lot."

"Trust me, I wouldn't be worrying about us. Gastly, use lick!"

The Gastly came in close to Kabuto with his tongue sticking out. Kabuto stopped playing with the pebble and looked up at the purple cloud. "Bu?"

"Water Pulse, now!" I screamed. With that Kabuto stood up on his back claws, pouring out a stream of water from his mouth. The pulse hit Gastly in the mouth, almost as if it was taking a drink. The Gastly began to swell with water as the purple haze began to turn into a dark looking puff, almost like a rain cloud.

"Gastly!" Morty called. "Night Shade!"

Gastly quickly shook off the water that had collected on and in his transparent body almost like it was nothing. _But I know he had to take a lot of damage from a direct hit like that._ Gastly moved to the side, evading Kabuto's constant attack. "Gast!" It called, and when it did, the room was covered in darkness.

_I can't see anything. This place is completely dark!_

"Bu!" I head Kabuto call out.

_That's right, that ghost is used to this. It's like its natural environment. _"Kabuto!" I called. "Dig, now!"

"Are you stupid?" I heard Morty call out. "I thought the _'Pokemon Master'_ would at least know that physical attacks don't affect ghost pokemon."

"I do know that, you idiot." I growled under my breath. _If I can just keep Kabuto under the ground until the attack lets off, then I'll be okay. _"Wait a minute." I smiled. "I have an idea. Kabuto! Come up and use dig again!" The room was still black when I heard Kabuto reemerge, and then I heard him dig again. "Again! Come up and use dig again!"

"What are you doing?" Morty asked as Kabuto came back up.

"You'll find out." I smiled. "Dig again!"

When the room was finally visible I could see the aftermath of Kabuto's digging. About ten holes were dug all over the battlefield, and Kabuto was not visible at all.

"Alright Kabuto, jump and use Water Pulse!"

Kabuto leaped up from a hole behind Gastly, hitting him hard with a water pulse attack.

"Gastly!" Morty called. "Use Sucker Punch!"

Gastly quickly formed into a fist and swung its body at Kabuto, but missed as Kabuto fell back into the hole he came from.

"Kabuto, again!" I called. "Jump and Water Pulse!"

Again Kabuto jumped up, spraying Gastly with water before falling back down.

I saw the Gastly gasping, weak from the battle. _It would only take one more good hit to get it down._ "Now Kabuto, use Surf!" I waited as the ground beneath me started to shake. The ripped fabric that was hanging on the walls began to fall. Tombstones were becoming uprooted, as water began spurting from the ground around the graves. Then, everything went calm. It was almost like the calm before the storm. Only a few second after the calm, came the water. Out of the ten holes that were in the ground shot bellowing streams of water that were so strong they knocked some of the sheet rock off the foundation of the ceiling, making them fall all over the room. _If it were my guess, I would say that the large mass of water being channeled through such small areas turned the ordinary Surf attack into a bunch of Hydro Pumps._

When the water subsisted, Kabuto jumped out of the ground, out of breath. Gastly, now very weak and barley able to float, stared back at him.

"Very nicely done." Morty spoke. "That was very quick thinking, but don't count my Gastly out just yet." He smiled. "Because we have a little trick up our sleeves. Gastly, now!"

When Morty said that Gastly began to glow a bright white. Light engulfed the whole room, which, with it being so dark, made it blinding to look at. When my eyes were able to adjust, I saw floating in front of me a fully healed and ready to go Haunter.

"Oh come on!" I said. "That is so unfair! That had better count as a new pokemon!"

"Nope." Morty smiled. "In Johto rules and regulations regarding the battling of pokemon, a 'switch' is classified as exchanging a pokemon of one ID number to another pokemon of a different ID number. Since Haunter has the same ID number as his previous evolution, evolving in a battle is not classified as a 'switch'."

"Grr…" I gritted my teeth, looking at Kabuto. _The poor thing gave it everything he had, and then Morty pulls something like this? What a skum bag._ I reached for the pokeball around my neck. _I guess there's only one thing I can do._ "Alright Kabuto, return." I said, holding up his pokeball.

"Bu!" Kabuto barked, jumping away from the beam of light that shot from the pokeball.

"Kabuto?" I couldn't believe it. _I have never had a pokemon not go back in its pokeball like that._ "Kabuto, return!"

"Buto!" He screamed again, jumping away from it.

"Having some problems?" Morty asked. "Maybe you should train that pokemon before you use it in battle."

"I trained him enough to beat one of your pokem-"

I stopped mid sentence when I saw a light engulf Kabuto. Once again, the light was so bright that it was blinding, but this time, I put my hand over my eyes, shielding the light but still being able to make out what was going on. I watched as Kabuto's little body started to grow. He stood on two feet that emerged from his body, his front arms became giant swords, much like Scyther's, and his hard shell became a solid plate of armor that covered his entire body. When the light diminished, I saw a large Kabutops standing in front of me.

I watched as he turned to me. He closed his beady little eyes as a smile came over his plated face.

"Bu-tops-tops-tops-tops-tops!" He said happily as he ran towards me, arms spread out wide as if he was going to hug me.

"Aghh!" I screamed, placing my hands up in front of me, watching as the razor sharp blades closed up around me. "Stop Kabutops!" I said, feeling as the blades cut into my black t-shirt I was wearing. _It's a good thing I took off that leather jacket, that thing was expensive!_

"Kabooo-" Kabutops backed up, looking at my bleeding arm like he was about to cry.

"Oh, its okay." I said, patting him on the head as I checked myself. "It's nothing more than a paper cut, it will be okay." I then looked over at Haunter and Morty, who were staring at us confused and speechless. "Hey Kabutops." I said with an evil smile. "Why don't you go show Haunter how happy you are, I bet he would love that!"

"Bu?" Kabutops looked aver at the Haunter, who looked back dumbfounded. "Bu-tops-tops-tops-tops!" Kabutops smiled happily as he ran at Haunter, arms held out wide. Haunter, not knowing what to do, turned to his trainer, who stood there dumbfounded as well. Before haunter knew it, Kabutops had his arms around him tight, cutting into him.

"Haunter!" Haunter screamed as he became invisible, floating away from the happy pokemon.

"Haunter!" Morty called, snapping out of his gaze. "Use Night Shade!"

"Kabutops! Use Absorb!"

Haunter opened up his mouth, sucking in a lot of air, getting ready for the attack, but out of nowhere Kabutops jumped onto his back. He latched on tight, cutting his blades into Haunter. He then opened his mouth, biting down hard on Haunter's head, sucking out the dark energy that was being held inside of him. Haunter's eyes began to roll back into his head, as he fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Bu?" Kabutops got off of the Haunter. He poked him in the head, but he didn't move. "Bu-Tops?" Kabutops backed away scared as Morty recalled his knocked out Haunter. Kabutops looked at me, scared and sad, as if he had just killed his best friend by accident. "Buu-tops-tops-tops!" He ran to me, crying. He opened up his arms wide as he went to hug me.

"Wait!" I said, putting my hand on his face, holding him back. "Haunter's okay! It was… um.. just a game, yeah that's it, a game."

"Bu?" Kaputops tilted his head at me. _Man, what the heck am I going to say to keep him from cutting me up?_

"Yeah… um… in that game, you um…" I snapped my finger as I got an idea. "In that game the other pokemon pretend they are asleep. That means that you win!"

"Buuu!" Kabutops nodded as if he understood what I was saying.

"Now, I umm, think you played this game enough." I said, holding up his pokeball recalling him.

"Boy," Morty commented. "You weren't joking when you said he was 'special'. Tell me, are you okay?" He pointed to the cut on my arm. "I would hate to have a lawsuit on my hands."

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing more than a scratch." I laughed, looking at my arm which was drenched in blood. _When I get back to the pokecenter I'll take a better look at it, but the bleeding has already stopped, for the most part. _

"Aright, you can't say I didn't ask." Morty readied another pokeball. "Go Haunter!"

I watched as another haunter floated onto the stage. "Another one?" I asked. "Well, at least this one isn't going to evolve, I would hate to have you pull another cheap move like that again." I reached for a pokeball. "Go, Quilava!"

"Lav!" The mouse pokemon hopped onto the field. The fire on his back and head began to spark, then erupted in a mass of flames.

"Well, it looks like you're all fired up." Morty laughed. "Haunter, use Shadow Punch!"

"Quilava, Flamethrower!"

Haunter pushed his hands forward, forming them into fists as he flew towards Quilava. Quilava opened his mouth, forming a ball of fire as Haunters fists glowed with a bright light. Both attacks shot off at the same time. Flames hit Haunter hard, covering his body in scorches as his fists punched thought the flames, striking Quilava with enough force to throw him into the air. When the attacks were done, both pokemon stood, out of breath, but still ready for more.

"Haunter! Shadow Ball!"

"Quilava! Quick Attack to dodge!"

Haunter began shooting off energy balls of dark power all over the room, which Quilava kept dodging with ease, thanks to the Quick Attack. As Quilava got closer, the attacks started to get harder and harder to evade.

_They can't take much more of this._ I looked up at Morty, who looked concerned as well. _His Haunter was giving it everything it had, and so was my Quilava. Those first attacks did them both in. If I don't end it soon, they will really hurt themselves._ "Quilava!" I said. "Jump with Quick Attack and use Flame Wheel!"

Quilava ran faster, jumping off a tombstone and heading for Haunter. He began to curl up, into a ball as he spun vigorously.

"Haunter! Dark Pulse!"

Haunter inhaled a deep breath, as he thrusted his arms forward at the spinning ball of fire that was heading his way. "Haun-TER!" He screamed, releasing a wave of dark energy at Quilava. Quilava took the attack hard, but kept right on spinning, breaking thought the wave and striking Haunter hard. Both pokemon then fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Well that accomplished nothing." Morty said.

"Well, it helped me." I said, recalling Quilava as Morty recalled his Haunter. "There's no more surprises in what your next pokemon will be. That's more help them I'm accustomed to."

"I guess that's true." He smiled, reaching for his last pokeball. "But the same goes for you and your Umbreon."

"I guess it does." I smiled as we both threw out our pokeballs, my Umbreon, and his Gengar. The two pokemon stared each other down. I could tell Umbreon was ready to go, ready to finish what he had started earlier today.

"Gengar!" Morty called. "Dark Pulse!"

"Umbreon! Quick Attack!"

Gengar let out a wave of dark energy at Umbreon, who dodged it.

"Now!" I yelled. "Shadow Ball!"

"Use Mean Look!" Morty called.

Gengar stared at Umbreon with terrible face, but it had no effect. Umbreon opened his mouth, letting out a massive ball of dark energy that flew at Gengar, striking him hard. The large Ghost pokemon fell over backwards as he tripped on a tombstone.

"Now's our chance!" I said. "Get him again when he's down!"

"Gengar! Get up!" Morty called, but it was too late, Umbreon was already in the air, jumping over him with another massive ball of dark energy, ready to launch it into the monster's face.

"Sucker Punch!" Morty called as Umbreon released the Shadow Ball.

Gengar had his fist in the air in mid swing as the attack hit him in the face. Smoke erupted from the attack, engulfing the two within. But despite the close range of the attack, Gengar was still fighting. His fist came through the smoke, striking Umbreon in the air with enough force to launch him into a near by tombstone, making the rock crumble under the impact.

"Breee…" Umbreon struggled to stand.

"Umbreon!" I called out. "Are you okay?"

"On… on… on…" He let out in deep breathes.

"Gengar!" Morty called from behind the smoke. "Confuse Ray!"

I watched as a beam of light shot out from the smoke, hitting Umbreon as it ran all over his body. Before long he was covered in a jagged ray of light as he was lifted off the ground, crying in pain. "Breeeeeooon!" He began to shoot off Shadow Ball attacks in a fury, striking everything around us. The walls were shaking under the pressure of the attacks, the tombstones were cracking and crumbling, and the smoke, was only getting heavier. Finally, one of the attacks shot off heading towards the origin of the Confuse Ray. The Shadow Ball flew into the smoke, striking Gengar hard, making him fall backwards again. The Confuse ray attack stopped, and Umbreon was dropped on the ground, barely able to stand.

We watched as the smoke cleared, seeing the massive ten foot tall Gengar standing with a big goofy smile on his face.

_How is that even possible?_ But as I thought this, I saw his eyes roll to the back of his head, and the monstrosity of a ghost fell to the ground, knocked out.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Richard was driving down some of the back roads that lead to the Hot Spring Resort. He was in his old convertible that had been with him ever since he started his occupation with Team Rocket as one of the top scientists in the DNA replication experiments Giovanni was in charge of. That was long before he ever met Dr. Conner, or, for that matter, even before the Mewtwo project Giovanni started had begun. He never wanted to have anything to do with that, his morals meant too much to him. Though he had the technology to create life synthetically, to do so was the work of God to him. Richard always believed that the power to take life and give it was God's and God's alone.

"If I would have known I would have to do this to save my wife…" He spoke to himself as he stopped outside the gate of the resort. "I never would have joined Team Rocket."


	13. Battling for a Room

**Chapter 12**

**Battling for a Room**

It looked to be about high noon when I walked out of the Ecruteak gym, with Pichu on my shoulder. I smiled as I pinned the twelfth badge on the inside of my leather jacket, making it my fourth badge in the Johto league.

"Not to bad, aye Pichu?" I motioned to him on my shoulder. "In two weeks we have earned four badges. That means we have about four and a half months to finish the gyms, register, and then train for the league. Speaking of training." I put a finger to my chin. "We really haven't been training, have we? All we have been doing is running as fast as we could to the next gym." I looked around, taking in the scenery. "Maybe we should take it easy for a while. I mean, if we completed half of the gyms in less than a month, and we have over four months left, then we have plenty of time to rest. What do you think, Pichu?"

"Pi! Pi!" He smiled happily as he ran from one shoulder to the other, accidently putting pressure on the arm that Kabutop's cut only moments before.

"Arrr…" I winced. "Hey, Pichu, could you stay on the other arm, bud?" I watched as he slowly went to the other shoulder and sat down soft. "Yeah, first things first, I need to have that checked out." I looked around the area. From the gym I could see a dance club, a local bar, a few houses, homes, yards, and parked cars, a Pokemart and a Pokecenter. _Wow, no hospital. I guess the Pokecenter will just have to do._

***_-Scene Change-_***

When I walked in the Pokecenter everything seemed so… quiet. The TV in the lobby wasn't on, nor was the radio, or even the digital phones and computers. To top it all off, not even the Nurse Joy was there.

"This is so odd." I said as me and Pichu looked around the room. He ran down my shoulder, hopping on the counter and looking behind it, but nothing. He then walked over to the little bell that was beside us on the counter top. He lifted up his little paw as he pushed down on the bell.

"DING!" It chimed. At first it scared him, he had never rang one of those before. I stood there and watched as he rang it again. "DING!" I watched him look around, seeing no one else but us. A smile went across the little rodent's face and he began feverishly jamming his little paw down on the bell. "DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING! DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!"

"Okay!" Nurse Joy yelled from the back. "I get it, I'm coming I'm coming!" She emerged from the back hallway, which lead to the trainers rooms. She walked up, sliding behind the counter as she adjusted her skirt and finished buttoning up her shirt that was draping open enough to show some cleavage. "I'm sorry about that." She said when her shirt was fixed. "I was um… busy, in the back."

"Umm… okay…" I looked at her questionably. "What exactly were you busy doing?"

"Me." I heard a familiar voice that came from the hall. I looked up, almost surprised. _I don't know why_. I saw Ricky standing next to the hallway, leaning up against a wall.

"Aaaaa…" Joy sighed, as she began to eye Ricky up and down.

"Ahem!" I coughed, redirecting her attention. "I need your help Nurse Joy. I got hurt in a pokemon match and I didn't see a doctors office around, so could you take a look at my cut." I took off my jacket and laid it down beside Pichu on the counter. "I don't think it's anything serious, I just want to make sure that its cleaned out and doesn't get infected."

Her gaze slowly went from Ricky to me and then back to Ricky, almost as if she wasn't paying attention at all to my injury. "Yeah, that looks good… real good."

"My cut looks _'real good'_?" I questioned. "That's almost like saying _'He's dying better than I expected'_!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, as she really looked at my cut this time. "It doesn't seem to be very deep, but I'm going to have to put some alcohol on it to clean it out." She reached under the counter, putting out a little vial of clear liquid and a cotton swab. She dipped the swab in the vial and then placed it on my arm. "This is going to hurt."

I must say, it didn't hurt very bad at all. Back home, well… sort of home, all we ever had in the way of medicine things around the house were rubbing alcohol, Tylenol, and salt. That was our cure-all for everything, and with me getting into fist fights almost everyday with my older brother, needless to say, I grew used to the burn of alcohol or salt on an open cut.

"Alright. All done!" Nurse Joy beamed happily. "The bleeding had already stopped, so just make sure to keep it clean until it heals, but you should be fine." Her attention then directed over to Ricky. "I think I should get back to work." She said with a wink.

"Sorry, Babe." Ricky smiled cockily as he walked over to me, placing a hand on my back. "This guy is Kyle, the one I was telling you about."

"Really?" The Nurse Joy then looked at me. "You are 'the' Kyle Gray?"

"Why does everyone ask me that?" I rolled my eyes as I turned to walk out.

"Oh, please don't leave!" Joy said from behind the counter.

"Sorry, but I cant sand to be in one place too long." I spoke as turned to face her, only to see that she had her arm around Ricky.

"Please don't leave!" She said, clinging to him. "I… I love you!"

"Sorry, Babe." Ricky put a finger to her chin. "You're sexy and all, but I'm not ready to settle down just yet."

"Oh brother." I rolled my eyes as I walked out, jacket slung over my shoulder with Pichu sitting on my head.

***_-Scene Change-_***

I was outside, scanning the area when Ricky came up behind me. "So what's going on, champ?"

"What is your deal?" I barked at him. "I don't know if I don't show it enough or if you're just stupid, but I hate all the attention that comes with being famous!"

"What are you talking about?" Ricky laughed. "It's great! I don't know how you couldn-"

"I just don't!" I cut him off. "Listen. I hate womanizers, I hate stupidity, I hate liars, I hate con-artists, thieves, people who think with their reproductive organs and people who have no morals. And you know what's strange, Ricky?"

"What?"

"You are every one of those things balled up into one giant mass of teenage testosterone!" I glared at him. "Now listen here, it is apparent that I can't get you off my trail, so if you're going to follow me I want the lying to stop. I also want you to speak nothing of me being a 'pokemon master', or saying that I'm 'The Kyle Gray'. Everything else I can pretty much tolerate, but don't you ever, EVER say that again. Do you got that?"

"Sure…" Ricky tilted his head down, looking at his feet. "I guess I'm sorry Kyle." I heard him whisper. It almost sounded like he choked when he said it. "So…" He spoke up. "Where to next?"

"Well, I wanted to stay here for a little while." I said, looking over to dance club building. "I have been running along so fast that I'm not having any fun, or even training for that matter."

"Alright, so do you want to go back to the Pokecenter?" Ricky asked. "You know, so we can get signed in and stay here for free?"

"Well, I WOULD have liked to do that, but some one kinda ruined that for me." I glared at him.

"Hey, I said I was sorry." He looked down again, and then back up. "Hey, I did get some info from that Joy." He snapped his finger. "Yeah! She said that if you can win a fight against the Kimono Girls then they will give you a free day and night stay at their dancing club."

"You mean that?" I pointed over to the large building near the left side of town.

"I guess so." He shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. The first thing I did when I showed up here was… well…" He looked over at me, but didn't finish the sentence as I glared at him again.

"Well, heck. Why not?" I said standing up. "Lets go get us a free day and night over there.

"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu held up a fist as he sat on top my head.

"Can I come too?" Ricky asked.

"Like I can stop you." I laughed. "Even when I skip town on you, you still catch up to me… somehow."

***_-Scene Change-_***

When we walked into the dancing club we saw people sitting around watching as these six girls in kimonos dancing in true Japanese style. They twirled their bodies around, dancing with foldout fans in front of their faces. We pulled up a chair, sitting down in the dim lit room around a round table.

"Hey." Ricky said, tugging on a waitress's skirt. "Cold beer."

"A beer?" I looked over at him. "Are you even old enough for that?"

"Sure I am." He kicked back. "As long as it's a waitress and not a waiter."

I rolled my eyes, looking back at the women that were dancing on the stage. Smoke started to rise from the floor and cover the stage as I saw six pokemon silhouettes jump out of the women's pokeballs on their side. I saw them, and noticed right away what they were. There was a Vaporeon which shot out a mist of water, a Jolteon who sparked electricity into a nearby strip of light which lit up, a Flareon who shot flames into the mist, creating more steam and fog, an Umbreon who covered the room in a dark pulse, which made the lights seem even brighter, an Espeon who used a physic attack which made all the haze have a purple cast, and there was one more that I had never seen before. The sixth silhouette jumped up on a dark pedestal, hidden behind the haze. It had something on its head, something that waved in the slight breeze that was created from the other five attacks around it. The figure started to glow, omitting light, which was brighter than the lights that Jolteon was pumping electric into. I watched curiously as the figure then formed the light into a ball, forcing it out into a bright beam that shot out of an open window, clearing all the smoke and fog form the room when it did. But when the smoke was gone, so were the pokemon.

Everyone, including me, stood up and clapped as the women took a bow. They stayed like that for a moment before rising back up. "Thank you all." The eldest of the women said, which wasn't saying anything about her age, because she seemed to be no more than a twenty-five or so. "As with every day we will have an open challenge match for any volunteers. Winners will receive a free night's stay, valued at over $200, at our dancing club's motel rooms." The woman then raised her arms up to the crowd. "Are there any among you ready for the challenge?"

"I am." I stood, making everyone in the room stare at me. I saw a couple people turn around and then chuckle to themselves as the woman began to speak again.

"Please, come forth." She motioned, as the six made room for me on the dance floor. "In this battle you may use six pokemon, but you may not change out until your pokemon is knocked out, or unwilling to battle." She then waved her hand to the five women behind her. "My sisters and I will each use one pokemon. The winner will be decided when all of one party's pokemon are unable to battle. Do the rules sound fair?"

"Sure." I laughed to myself. _I already know five of the pokemon they are going to use, that one I am unsure of, but that looked like it was a solar beam attack. If that's true, then I better save Arcanine for last._

"I will go first." The eldest girl said as she straightened her blue kimono. "Go, Vaporeon!" The pokemon leaped out of its pokeball, which was still attached to the girl's dress.

"Por…" The water fox purred as the dim lights in the large room made the water drops on her body glisten.

"Wow, its coat is so shiny!" I said looking at the Vaporeon. "You must have taken very good care of it."

"Why yes." The woman said. "My sisters and I take very much pride in the care of our lovely pokemon."

"I can see." I said, watching as the Vaporeon sat quietly waiting for the match to start. "Well, looks like you're up." I smiled as I look at Pichu who was sitting on my shoulder.

"Pi!" The little mouse smiled happily as he jumped off my shoulder, running onto the stage as he took a fighting stance. "Chu!" When he said this he put his little fist in front of him, almost like he was mocking Vaporeon. I heard a few people chuckle when he did this. _I cant really tell if they are laughing at Pichu or the fact that I am using Pichu… but, it doesn't matter. I know Pichu will be more than a match for Vaporeon._

"We shall make the first move." The woman said as she took a bow. "Now, Vaporeon, use Quick Attack!"

"Pichu! Use-" But before I could finish Vaporeon had already made contact and had thrown Pichu into the air with the attack.

"Pi!" He cried as he hit the ground.

"Man, that was fast." I gritted my teeth. "Pichu! Use your Thunderbolt!"

"Evade with Quick Attack." She spoke calmly.

As Pichu began to charge up, a bolt of light came out from him, raising into the air, and then falling towards Vaporeon. Only moments before the attack landed, however, Vaporeon vanished into a Quick Attack, striking Pichu again and making him fly into the air.

I grit my teeth watching this. _How can that thing be that fast?_ I watched as the Vaporeon stood from her attacking position to show a little spark that shot out of her shoulder, from where she hit Pichu. _Wait… that means that Vaporeon took damage as well. That gives me an idea._

"Pi… Pi…" Pichu struggled to stand up. _If this doesn't work then it will be over for Pichu._

"Vaporeon, I wish to finish this." The woman spoke. "Use your Take Down."

"Charge up with a Volt Tackle!" I said, not even a second before the woman spoke her attack.

Pichu began to charge as the Vaporeon ran after him. Pichu was covered in a bright light as the water pokemon slammed into him. The Electricity that Pichu had built up for the attack was transferred into Vaporeon as she made contact. Pichu flew into the air as Vaporeon fell to the ground, knocked out from the power of the super effective electricity that was surging through her body. But when Pichu hit the ground, he didn't move, he was knocked out as well.

"Well." The woman said, recalling her Vaporeon as I took Pichu up in my arms. "It looks as if it's a draw."

"That it does." I smiled, placing Pichu in a chair that was on the stage. "You did great little bud." I said as I pat him on the head.

"I shall be next." Said the dancer in the black and yellow kimono as she walked in front of me. "I am the second eldest of my five sisters, and as my pokemon, I choose Umbreon." I watched as the room went dark and then lit back up, showing a sleek black Umbreon, which looked like it appeared out of thin air.

"Wow, cool." I smiled. "I have an Umbreon as well, ya know?"

"Will you be choosing yours to battle mine?"

"Nah." I reached for a pokeball around my waist. "If I need too, I'll use him later, but for now I think I should train my other pokemon. Come on out, Quilava!"

I tossed out his pokeball, making him appear in front of Umbreon on the stage. "Quil!" He smiled happily.

"Um…" Umbreon snorted, as if it was annoyed.

"Quil?" Quilava tilted his head questionably, but then shook it off as he stepped back, getting ready for the fight.

"Since my sister began last," the girl said. "I will let you make the first move."

"Alright. Quilava, start it off with Roll Out!"

"Umbreon. Use swift."

Quilava started to roll up into a ball as he spun violently, which made the flames on his back cover him. He rolled faster and faster as Umbreon began to open its mouth. When Quilava started to charge Umbreon let out a stream of bright yellow stars. They were not very effective, but they did manage to slow Quilava down, making his attack not as powerful, but he did keep spinning. He rolled at Umbreon, sticking it hard, pushing it back a few feet as he rolled away, turning around for another Roll Out attack.

"That's right, build up the speed!" I smiled.

"Umbreon, use Dark Pulse on the ground." The girl said calmly.

"Great." I said sarcastically. _She's using one of my tricks. Making her Umbreon to use an attack on the ground, making it fly into the air and dodging the attack, while, at the same time, leaving my pokemon left wide open. I would call back the attack, but its too late. Looks like the only thing I can do is try to evade her counter attack._

Quilava rolled closer to Umbreon, building up speed with every foot he advanced. Umbreon was covered in a dark energy as it forced a pulse of dark aura out of its body, which pushed it into the air, like I thought.

"Now, Umbreon." She grinned. "Shadow Ball."

"Quick Attack the wall!" I screamed as I saw the ball of dark energy leave Umbreon's mouth. The ball flew closer and closer to Quilava as he began to stand instead of roll. The attack was only inches away from him when he used his Quick Attack. He ran to the wall, jumping on it as he bounced off, striking Umbreon in the air, knocking it to the ground.

"Flame Thrower!" I called out.

"Last Resort." She said calmly.

'_Last Resort'? What attack is that?_

Quilava, still in the air, let out a massive stream of fire out of his mouth, shooting it at Umbreon. Umbreon stood strong, waiting for the attack to get closer. When it was close enough, it screamed a horrid scream, one that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. When it did, it was covered in an orb of lights of all different colors. The flames struck the orb, cutting though it, hitting Umbreon hard, but when the orb was broke, shattered pieces of light, almost like glass, scattered the air, and then flew into Quilava. Both pokemon fell to the ground, Umbreon, badly burned. Quilava was standing, barely, but he was.

"Quil… Quil… " He huffed.

"It seems as if I have been beat." The girl said as she recalled her pokemon, and the next girl stepped up.

"I will be your next challenge." She bowed, running a hand over her light purple kimono.

"Hey… um…" I said, looking over at my gasping Quilava. "I know you said that I'm not allowed to change… but…"

"Yes?" The girl asked.

"Well, my Quilava, its beat." I explained. "Even if I used him to battle you, it would be over before it even began. Please, let me change him out."

"I am terribly sorry, but the rules are the rules." She said as an Espeon stepped out from behind her. "If you do not fell comfortable with the rules then you should not have agreed to them."

"Pht…" I spat. "Aren't you cold?"

"I shall begin." She spoke, ignoring my last comment. "Espeon, use Psychic."

"Quilava, use Quick Attack to dodge!"

Quilava tried to run, but it was too late. A purple haze had already covered over him as he floated above the stage. Espeon's eyes were glowing a bright white as it lifted Quilava into the air, slamming him down on the floor hard, making the dance floor splinter. When the attack was over Quilava fell over, passed out.

"Now you may recall him." She spoke softly.

"Wow, thanks." I rolled my eyes. "I am glad that I have your permission to do so now." I recalled him with one hand, as I held another pokeball with the other. "Come on out, Slugma!"

"Impressive." The girl said, watching the silver Slugma look around the room. "I have to ask, where did you obtain that silver Slugma?"

"I found him right outside of Azalea Town. " I smiled.

"Curious. I never knew they were around that place. But, enough conversing. You may start this battle."

I nodded as raised my hand in the air, pointing at Slugma. "Slugma, use Harden!"

"Espeon, use Take down."

Slugma stayed where he was and concentrated on cooling down his lava body. Espeon, on the other hand, ran for Slugma with great speed. _I have to be carful of what attacks I use with him. Espeon is much, much faster than Slugma could ever dream of being._ Espeon built up speed and slammed into Slugma, but with Slugma using harden, it looked like Espeon did just as much damage to itself as it did to Slugma.

"Great!" I called out. "Harden, again!"

"Espeon. Use Quick Attack."

Slugma cooled his body temperature down more, which turned his body into a solid rock. Espeon ran at him, striking into him, but not being able to budge him at all. With him being almost a solid volcanic rock now, they both took damage from the attack.

"Now, Ember the ground and use Rock Throw!"

"Last Resort."

Slugma shot off an ember attack on the ground, forcing his rock body into the air while Espeon screamed, covering itself in an orb much like Umbreon did. Quilava began to spin while he was in the air, forming his body into a boulder as he flew into Espeon. He crashed through the barrier, shattering it like glass as he flew into Espeon. The left over shards of light struck into Slugma, bouncing off and then hitting Espeon. When the attack was over Slugma uncurled from his ball form and watched as Espeon fell to the floor, knocked out.

"Very well done." The girl said as she went to recall her Espeon, but when she did, Slugma was covered in a white light. I watched as he grew in size, almost five times over, and the lava on his back formed into a hard, stone shell. "And, congratulation." She added.

"Wow!" I said, looking at the purple Magcargo that sat in front of me. "He looks even cooler now than he did before! Right on Magcargo!"

"Mag!" He said in a deep voice as a purple flame shot out of his red shell.

"I will be next." A girl in a red and white kimono said as she took the stage. "My pokemon of choice will be Flareon."

"And I guess it's your turn to start." I smiled.

"That it is." She said as she took a bow. "Now, Flareon, use Sand Attack!"

"Magcargo, Ember!"

Flareon ran over to one of the sand bags that were holding down the curtains, cutting it open as it sprayed Magcargo with a wave of sand. Magcargo let out an Ember attack, but to my fear, the intense heat from the attack turned the falling sand into tiny shards of glass. _When the chemical make up of the sand is heated it turns into a liquid form or molten rock, and almost as soon as it does, it cools, forming into glass. _The glass pieces came down on him, sinking into his skin, tearing away at his lava body. The pieces of sand that the Ember attack didn't hit came down on Magcargo, and with him having a lava body, the sand quickly turned to glass, just like the last pieces. Flareon jumped back, watching as Magcargo was quickly covered in a sheet of glass.

"Magcargo!" I screamed, looking at him in the incased glass. "Magcargo! Hang on!"

"Finish this." The girl said to her Flareon. "Use your Hyper Beam."

"A Hyper Beam?" I gasped, watching Flareon open its mouth. Inside formed a bright white light as a massive beam shot out, striking Magcargo and instantly shattering the glass. Shards of glass sprayed everywhere as Magcargo fell to the ground, gasping for air.

"Hmp…" The girl said, raising up. "I am more lenient than the rest of my sisters, so I will give you the chance to withdraw your pokemon."

I looked at the Flareon, who was still in good health, as I saw Magcargo struggle to stand out of the corner of my eye. _I guess I should withdraw him, one more attack like that and he's done for._ I reached for his pokeball, holding it up as he started to glow with a bright light. It engulfed him and covered his body. When the light subsisted he stood there, almost 100% better. _Was that a 'Recover' attack?_

"Hm…" She smiled. "Looks like you do have some tricks up your sleeve. No matter though. Flareon, use your Take Down."

"Magcargo!" I screamed. "Harden, now!"

Magcargo's body slowly turned from a bright purple to a dull blue as its skin turned to a lava based stone. Flareon ran at Magcargo, almost as fast as a Quick Attack, striking him hard enough to push him back a few feet. They both took damage, but they both stood strong.

"Now, we finish this." The girl said as she closed her eyes. "Flareon, use Last Resort."

"And how did I know you were going to do that?" I asked sarcastically. _From what I could tell, that attack doesn't do anything until the barrier is broken. So, I guess we just wont break it._ "Magcargo, use Harden again!"

Both pokemon were covered in a light, but as Macargo's decreased, Flareon's only got brighter. It screamed, letting out an orb shape around it, much like the others did. They both stared each other down for a long time before the girl finally made her move.

"If you refuse to move, then I will. Flareon, use Take Down."

"Magcargo, Recover!"

Flareon, still covered in the orb, ran at Magcargo with great speed. Marcagro did his best to heal his body, but when Flareon reached him, it was all over. The orb around it shattered, slicing into both Magcargo and Flareon. The pure speed of the Take Down attack through both pokemon backwards. Magcargo struggled to stand, but couldn't, and collapsed on the floor, knocked out. Flareon, on the other hand, was able to stand, but didn't look like it could go on for very much longer.

I held Magcargo's pokeball in my hand, recalling him. I looked back at the girl and her Flareon as I readied my next pokeball. "I will give you the same option you gave me before." I said calmly. "If you want you can take your Flareon and go. It won't last much longer anyway, and I would hate for it to get hurt."

"I don't accept. I don't need your charity." The girl said with a smile.

"Eh, okay. Come on out, Kabutops!"

Kabutops appeared on the stage in a red light. He rose up, looking around at all the people, then back to me. A big goofy smile went across his face as his arms opened wide. "Buuuu-tops-tops-tops-tops!" He screamed happily as he ran for me, arms opened with giant razor sharp swords ready to close into and embrace.

"STOP!" I screamed, holding my hand out in front of his face when he got close enough. With that, he stopped running. He lowered his sword like arms as he looked at me so sad. His eyes filled with tears as a frown went over his face. "Hey come on." I said with a smile, patting him on the back. "You see those people?" I asked as I pointed off the stage. "They want to see a good show. Do you think you can give it to them?"

"Buu-tops-tops-tops!" He nodded with a big goofy grin and he ran onto the stage, looking at all the people. He held up his arms wide as he began to move his feet up and down. He balanced on one foot, then jumped to the other, waving his swords around as he nodded his head. "Buuu-tops tops! Bu-tops tops! Butops!" He sung and danced around on the stage.

I slapped myself in the face, watching as my prehistoric pokemon was making a fool out of me. "Kabutops!" I screamed, making him stop on one foot and look at me. "Get over here! Now!"

He walked over to me then tilted his head upside down, almost like an owl. "Bu?"

"Kabutops…" I took a deep breath. "They want to see you fight, not dance."

"Buuu…" He said, tilting his head back up straight.

"Now, they want you to fight that Flareon." I pointed over to it. "So get out there… AND DO AS I SAY!"

"Bu-tops-tops-tops-tops!" He said, running back out on the stage, still with a goofy grin on his face.

"Are we ready to begin?" The girl asked.

"Yes…" I focused.

"Good. Flareon." She pointed. "Use Take Down."

"Kabutops!" I said with a smile. "I think Flareon needs a hug. Can you help it with that?"

"Buuuuuuuuuu!" He screamed happily as Flareon ran into him with a Take Down attack, but when it did Kabutops opened his arms, giving Flareon a big hug as his blades cut deep into it's skin.

"Flare!" It screamed in pain.

"Kabutops! I think it said that it wants water!"

"Bu?" He looked back to me.

"Yeah!" I said with a smile. "Why don't you give it a good Water Pulse!"

"Buuuuuuu!" He smiled, happy to help.

"Flareon!" The girl called out. "Get away, now!" But it was too late; Flareon was trapped in the arms of the prehistoric pokemon. Kabutops opened his mouth, letting out a large stream of water all over Flareon. With the fire pokemon being so close, the attack knocked it out instantly.

When the attack was over Kabutops looked down at the passed out Flareon in his arms. He dropped it, poking it in the side. "Bu?" But when it didn't move, he got scared. He turned to me, tears in his eyes and he ran with his arms wide apart. "Buuu!" He cried.

"STOP!" I screamed again when he got close enough. "Now look Kabutops." I said, wrapping my arm around him. "Remember Haunter earlier today?" I asked. "The same thing happen to him, remember?"

"Bu?" He pointed to Flareon.

"Yeah, that's right. Flareon is just playing. She, its really asleep."

"Buuu!" His tears vanished as a smile can back across his face.

"Now go back out there." I said with a laugh.

"Butops!" He smiled as he ran back to the stage. By this time the girl had already recalled Flareon, and another girl stepped forward, wearing a yellow and white kimono.

"I shall battle you next." She said as she threw out a pokeball. In a red beam of light appeared a Joelton.

"Kabutops!" I laughed. "I think it wants a hug too!"

The girl didn't say anything or give any commands, instead she watched as Kabutops ran at her Jolteon. Kabutops opened his arms, embracing Jolteon and cutting his swords into its skin, but the spikes on Jolteon prevented them from going too deep.

"Now!" She spoke. "Thunder!"

"Oh no…" I gasped as I watched Kabutops and Jolteon become engulfed in a bright yellow light. _Though Kabutops is a Water and Rock type, he was water first, so electricity does hurt him, though, not as bad as it would a regular water type pokemon._ When the attack was over, however, the move did prove to be too much for the prehistoric pokemon to handle. The point blank range of the Thunder attack knocked Kabutops out cold. Jolteon jumped back, still in pain from the cuts of Kabutops's swords.

"You did great." I said recalling him. "But now, its time for my ace in the hole." I smiled, reaching for the pokeball around my neck. "Go, Arcanine!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Richard made his way to the entrance of the large resort. He had left his car behind, about a hundred yards away or so, to make sure if anyone did see him, they wouldn't see his get away car.

He placed a finger on the intercom button outside of the large iron gate. "I am here regarding information on the whereabouts of _Thomas Rogers_." He spoke. _The term of 'Thomas Rogers' had always been the code name for Team Rocket, even as far back as Richard could remember. If these people were the right people then they would know what he was talking about._

"Crrt…" The intercom crackled. "Ecnol-aged." A person with a French ascent spoke back. "Ve vill send ze information to you. Please, vait for us."

Richard waited outside of the gate for a few minutes, keeping his hand on the gun in his pocket the whole time. He looked up at the building. On the gate, the walkway, there were cameras everywhere. More than likely they were recording everything at every moment. "Great." He muttered. "That is going to make this even harder to pull off."

Minutes had passed by the time Charles stepped out of the resort, wearing his full Rocket Grunt getup. He didn't have very many badges or awards, but he was happy to finally be promoted, or, happy he thought he was going to be.

"Oh thank you so much for coming!" He began as he opened the door, grabbing Richard by the arm. "Please come this way, we have many thin-"

"Listen to me if you want to live." Richard said, pulling the gun out and putting it to Charles back as they walked down the walkway. "You are not getting promoted. Conner wants you dead."

"What?" He asked as a camera zoomed in on them walking. "Who are you?"

"Right now…" Richard said in a low voice. "Consider me your only friend. You are lucky Conner sent me and not someone else. I am Richard, second hand man to Conner, and head of the resistance."

"Head of th-" Charles screamed as Richard pushed the gun deeper into his back.

"Now listen to me." He said low as he eyed all the cameras. "I don't want to kill you, I want to save you, but if it means risking the resistance, I will not hesitate to follow out with Conner's orders. Do I make myself clear?"

Charles gulped and nodded.

"Good. Now, these cameras, is there anywhere where they can't see?"

"Yes…" Charles said as he opened the door to the resort. "In the kitchen freezer, there were never any cameras installed back there."

"Is that room bugged? Are their audio hook ups in there?"

"No, the only rooms with those are the resort rooms."

"Good." Richard exhaled. "Now, you need to take me to the freezer. That is the only chance you have to live."

Charles led Richard into the kitchen. The chef, though surprised, didn't say anything. Richard looked over at him, swinging his head around to the freezer, asking silently for the chef to follow them. Charles opened the door to the freezer, stepping inside and shutting the door when they all three were in there.

"Now listen." Richard started. "I don't know if you have heard about it, but there is a resistance going on right now in Team Rocket. Conner is out of control and is killing everyone and everything that gets in his way. Team Rocket is down, out numbered, and we have very few people left, the ones we do have left, want to leave." He put the gun down. "Conner has sent me here to kill you." He said, looking at Charles. "If I don't kill you, he will kill my wife. And it's not enough to say I did it either, I need proof that I killed you."

"Vi don't vunt to ve a part of this!" The chef raised his hands in defense. "Vy did you ving me back here? Vot can I do?"

"I had too." Richard explained. "When Conner watches these video's he will see that I left a witness, and might even catch on to my little plan. Besides that, I need you chef, and it will help you out too."

"Vow vill it help me?" The chef asked.

"Because by the end of this," Richard said calmly. "You will be a free man as well."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Arcanine stood strong as the girl called out for an attack. "Jolteon, use Take Down!"

"Arcanine! Bite and Flamethrower!"

Jolteon ran at Arcanine as he stepped out of the way, evaded Jolteon's blow. He opened his mouth, catching the little ball of spikes on the neck as he let out a massive stream of fire, which covered Jolteon instantly.

"Jolteon! Pin Missile!" The girl called out.

_Crap! I didn't think of that._ Jolteon's hair turned into little spikes as they shot out from its body, and with Arcanine holding it in his mouth, he was hit hard in the face by the attack. He let go of Jolteon, shaking his head, trying franticly to get the spikes out. Jolteon, badly burned, stood on the ground next to him as it charged up electricity.

"Arcanine!" I called out. "Dig!"

When Jolteon let out a Thunder attack at Arcanine he had already began to dig, getting rocks and dirt in his fur, which worked to ground out the attack. When the light from the thunder was gone all you could see was Jolteon and a giant splintered hole that went thought the wood stage and down into the dirt underneath the building.

"Perfect." I said with a smile. "Now come up with a Heat Wave!"

Arcanine jumped up from under the floorboards, striking Jolteon hard, but his attack wasn't over just yet. While still in the air Arcanine let out a wave of heat that was so hot it left black scorch marks on the dance floor. Jolteon was so badly burned by this point that it fell to the floor, knocked out. Arcanine landed back down, shaking the last of the spikes from his face.

"Impressive." The girl said. "If this were two weeks ago you would have won your prize."

I looked at her strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"The youngest of my sisters has recently acquired a new evolution of Eevee, and thus, has joined us as one of the 'Evolution Kimono Sisters'."

"That's right!" A girl in a green kimono said as she ran up behind her older sister. This girl was so young I would put money on it that she was no more than 12. "My big sisters told me that if I could find a new Eevee evolution that they would let me in their dancing club." She smiled as she put her nose up in the air. "So one day I heard a rumor that there were two new evolutions found in Sinnoh, so I went to check them out, and this is what I found." She threw out her pokeball. "Go, Leafeon!"

"Leafeon?" I asked as I saw the same silhouette as before stand in front of me. The pokemon was light green and resembled Eevee quite a bit. It had two giant leaves for ears, an even bigger leaf for a tail, and little leaves on its paws. "So, how did you get it?"

"Well, you see." The girl started. "I had an Eevee at one time, and my sisters said I couldn't join their club until my Eevee evolved into something they didn't have. The jerks tried to trick me, but I showed them! I started looking up stuff on the internet and it turns out that in Sinnoh there is this place where Eevees evolve into a Leafeon!" The girl squealed as she jumped up and down. "No one quite knew where it was, but I put all the clues together and found that they all had something in common, Eterna forest. So I went there, and bam! My Eevee evolved!"

"Hey, that's pretty cool." I said smiling at her. _I'm going to have to give Bill a call later to see if he knows anything about this. This is pretty cool!_

"Anyway." The girl said, taking a fighting stance. "Lets get on with it!"

"Sure." I chuckled. "You make the first move, I'm curious what moves that Leafeon knows."

"Alright! Leafeon! Start off with a Razor Leaf!"

"Arcanine…" I paused, watching as the Leafeon started to twist the leaves on its body around. "Try not to take too much damage."

"Arf."

Leafeon let out a scream as a wave of leaves shot from its body. The leaves flew vigorously at Arcanine, but Arcanine just stood there. To anyone other than me, it would have looked like the leaves were hitting him, but in actuality he was protecting himself with a mild Heat Wave attack that burnt all the leaves up before they even touched him.

"What? That did nothing!" The girl said surprised.

"Well, Arcanine is a fire type." I said. "Grass type moves have hardly any effect on him."

"Arr." She grit her teeth. "Then try this! Leafeon, use your Double Team!"

I watched as the Leafeon started to run around Arcanine in circles, going faster and faster until it looked like there were about thirty of it in the room. _Little did she know that ever since Arcanine was just a Growlithe I have trained him to detected movement by hearing, not seeing. Even as the Leafeon goes faster and faster, Arcanine knows right where it is. _

"Still not moving?" She asked. "Then I will! Leafeon! Finish this with Solar Beam!"

I smiled. _Solar Beam is a two turn move, and with all the lights in here so dim, it might even take it three turns to build up enough energy._ "Arcanine." I spoke. "Heat Wave."

All of the Leafeons in the room started to glow a bright white as it ran faster and faster. Arcanine, standing in the middle of the running pokemon, launched out a wave of heat, which scorched the floor even more. Leafeon, unable to evade the attack, was hit hard. Burns appeared on its body as it fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Oh no!" The girl screamed as she watched Leafeon fall to the floor. She fell to her knees, ashamed that she had lost, recalling her pokemon.

"Ahem!" The eldest girl coughed, regaining the attention of the people in the club. "Congratulations on bettering us in battle. As promised, your reward will be a free night's stay in one of our prized lodge rooms. You will have full 24 hour room service for the 24 hour period you will be staying, as well as access to our dancing quarters for free entertainment."

"That's Aw-esome!" Ricky yelled loudly in a slurred voice as he wrapped his arm around me, barely able to stand. He was drunk, very drunk, so much so I couldn't even fathom how he made it up the stairs to the stage to wrap his arm around me. "Ya' know…" He said as he looked at me with a glazed over look in his red eyes. "Yar' Lucky!" He then stumbled over to the eldest girl, checking her out, up and down.

"Do you know him?" The girl asked me as Ricky stared at her breast.

"_NO! I have never met the guy in my life! You should have him thrown in jail!" Or, that's what I should of said._

"Yep!" Ricky said as he took another step closer to her. "Me and him go Waaaaaay back, babe'!" I slapped myself in the face as he kept talking. "And boy! I canst wait to get some of that's free entertain-ments you were talkin' abouts!" He then reached up and took one of her breast in his hand. "You know… you all are really hot! I would do EVERY one of ya'!"

I saw all the girls get red in the face, as well as all the people in the club. Everyone was mad, ready to jump Ricky and beat him to a pulp. Can't say I blame them though. _But, I better do something quick before he causes more trouble._ "Excuse me." I said as I placed a hand on Ricky's shoulder, him still groping the shocked girl. "I need to have a word with him."

I spun him around, taking him to the edge of the stage. He turned to look at me. "Whaz up?" He spoke, waddling from side to side.

With one quick motion I raised my fist behind me, shoving it into Ricky's face. The force of my punch bloodied his nose, as well as knocked him off the stage. He fell off; slamming into a table and breaking it in the middle, making it fall apart. After that he stayed still, lying on the floor, knocked out. "Now." I said, turning back to the girls. "How about that room?"

"Not over my dead body!" The eldest girl screamed.

"What?" I jumped back. "Why not? I just knocked him out for doing… that to you!"

""Well, you and that guy go 'way back' so who knows what you're trying to pull!"

"Are you really going to listen to a drunkin' fool?" I asked, pointing to Ricky.

"GET OUT!" She screamed. "Get out of my dance studio!"

"Studio? I thought this was a club."

"Get out and take your 'friend' with you!"

"Fine." I said, jumping off the stage. "Oh yeah, and your dancing sucked." I bent down to grab Ricky by the back of his shirt collar, and began dragging him out. "F.Y.I., waving a fan in front of your face isn't dancing."

"OUT!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

I threw Ricky on the ground outside of the PokeMart as I went in. I had already decided that I wanted to spend some more time camping out, training, getting to see the region, so I needed to get some supplies for the trip. The majority of my pokemon could hunt for themselves, but I still needed a lot of food.

I pretty much bought the store out, sealing all the stuff away into item holders, which I put in my bag. _It was a pretty nice set up I had going on, I even labeled the item holders. I had so many it was really the only way to get around. _

When I patched everything up there I headed to the pokecenter, putting all my pokemon up to heal but Umbreon as I started to switch my party up some_. I might run into some water that I will need to get across. Well heck, even if I didn't, having a water type with me would help a lot. _I went to the PC, opening it up to find that I had a new message. I read it.

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray**_

_**Subject: Retrieval Needed**_

_**Pokemon Number: 0942090 – Name: Arcanine – Transfer as reply to message.**_

"Yeah right!" I laughed. "She's off her rocker if she thinks I'm going to send her Arcanine." I closed out of the message, depositing Umbreon into the PC as I withdrew Gyarados. I closed out of the tab as I looked over to the videophone in the corner. _There's something I wanted to check up on before I leave._

I walked over there, pressing the power button on as I plugged in the number. "555-876-6211" I waited as the phone rang once… twice… and third and fourth time… and then…

"Hello…" Bill said as he picked up.

"Hey bud!" I smiled as he rubbed his eyes, trying to get woken up.

"Kyle, is that you?" He asked.

"Yep, sorry about not calling in so long." I chuckled. "You know my mother, she keeps me locked up until I run away."

"I'm glad that you called, but," He yawned. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Ummm…" _It's not that late, I can see the sun shining through the window._ I looked to the clock on the wall. "Yeah, its 3:15… in the day. Why are you asleep?"

"Eh." He shrugged, sitting down in the seat in front of the phone. "Just got back from Johto. It's a 13 hour drive from here to Mahogany Town."

"Hey! You finally got your license?" I smiled happily.

"Oh yeah," He shrugged. "I've had it for two years."

"Really?" I asked. "How did you manage that? You are only about an month older than me and I just got mine about 3 months ago."

"Loopholes." He smiled as he brought up his laptop, from under the desk. He always carried that thing on him everywhere. But, I can't really blame him, that thing as several billion dollars in programming on it. "Turns out in the Kanto Region, as long as it is for work purposes, regarding a home business, a minor of at least 14 years of age can try for a license and legally drive the company vehicle."

"So let me guess, your company is the _PC_?"

"Something like that." He laughed. "So yeah, what are you into? I notice you're calling from Johto, Ecruteak, right?"

"Yep." I smiled. "I thought I would try my hand at the Johto League too."

"That's great!" He said. "It would be pretty cool for you to win another league."

"You heard about that?"

"Who hasn't?" He laughed again. "I think you are the only person to beat the popularity chart of one person ever since I invented the PC."

"Heh." I chuckled. "And to think, I was being cooped up this whole time."

"Cooped up?" Bill asked. "Oh yeah, your mom."

"Yeah."

"So, when did you start your Johto Journey?"

"About three weeks ago… I guess."

"So you're getting a head start on next year. That's pretty good." He said with a smile. "Not a lot of people go into it like that, most of the time people jump into it, which ends up being their downfall."

"Well…" I put a hand behind my head.

"Kyle, don't tell me." He looked at the screen. "Oh my gosh, are you really going to try to make it into this year's league?"

"I was going too." I smiled.

"Kyle! You have less than 5 months to get all the badges and make it up to the Indigo Plateau! I'm sorry, but that is impossible, even for you."

"I wouldn't say that." I said. "I'll have you know that before I left for Johto I retraced my steps in Kanto in less than a week, going to every large city there was." I watched as his jaw dropped, then I continued. "On top of that I already have four of the badges."

"That's nothing to brag about." Bill said. "I'm not doubting your skill, but the first four gym leaders in Johto are chumps. Everyone beats them, and I mean everyone." I hung my head. "But you should be fine, as long as you keep training your pokemon." When I didn't say anything he questioned me. "You have been training your new pokemon, right?"

"Well…" I looked away. "Um… I'm working on that…"

Bill didn't say anything, he just shook his head. "So, what's up, why did you call me?"

"Well, I just saw a new Eevee evolution today and I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"Are you talking about that ones in Sinnoh?" He asked.

"Yeah!" I leaned forward. "The one I fought in battle was really cool. The girl said she trained it in a forest in Sinnoh and it evolved."

"Yes, I was actually up there last month." He said, typing away on his computer. "I have it all cataloged here. There are two new evolutions discovered in Sinnoh, Glaceon and Leafeon. Glaceon is an ice type, while Leafeon is a grass type. Though they are different types, the both evolve in a similar way. However, it is very rare. Some Eevees can evolve though a chemical that is released into the air that mixes with the hormones in their body. When this happens it induces a change, a mutation, if you will, which morphs the neuron receptors in the brain, causing it to change type and evolve. Turns out that there are two places that omit such chemicals into the air surrounding it. Now, not all Eevees can evolve this way, only about 1 in every 1000 can do it. Several colleges of mine were thinking about mating some of the rare evolutionary Eevees to raise the chances of chemical evolution. But, it's still undergoing several evaluations before it will be approved." He then looked back to the videophone. "Did that answer your question?"

"Oh.. uh, yeah, yeah." I nodded. _I did listen to it, I understood it, but man, sometimes he can be so boring!_ "That is pretty cool!" I smiled. "But yeah, there was something else I needed to tell you, something I know you don't have data on."

"And what is that?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I can't tell you over the phone, but go asked Professor Oak about it, tell him I said it is okay for you to know."

"Well, okay Kyle." He said, looking at me oddly. "Whatever you say."

"Yeah, well, I've got to get out of here." I smiled. "Lots of places to go, ya know?"

"Yeah! You take care!" Bill said. "Call me when you start to compete, I want to be there!"

"I sure will." I smiled. "See ya, Bill."

With that I clicked the monitor off. I kicked back rocking back and forth as I heard the door open from the ER room. I turned to see Pichu running to me. He jumped up, wrapping his arms around me. "Cha!"

"You look like you're doing better." I laughed.

"And here are the rest of your pokemon, Mr. Pokemon Master." The Nurse Joy said, handing me my tray of pokeballs.

"Thanks." I said, putting the balls on my belt. "But, really, call me Kyle."

I turned, heading out the door with Pichu on my back. I released Arcanine on the ground, slinging Ricky over his back as I pointed to west. "Through those woods, to Olivine City."


	14. Death and Despair

*****_-WARNING-_*****

**This chapter contains graphic content and may be over the rating of PG-13, though I don't think it is. Also, I might add that this chapter isn't as bad as the previous one in which I put a warning on. **

**Chapter 13**

**Death and Despair**

We walked through the woods for the rest of the daylight. Arcanine didn't like it, but he did as he was told and carried Ricky on his back as he followed me.

The sun was just starting to set when I took off my book bag, throwing it on the ground beside a tree. "Lets make camp here." I said as I saw Arcanine slip Ricky off his back, almost like it hurt Arcanine to carry him. Ricky fell to the ground, landing beside my book bag, still out cold. When he hit the ground though, I heard something crunch in his book bag he was wearing, something metal. _I wonder if I should see what it is, and if it's okay?_ I reached down to open his back pack, but then pulled back. "Eh, whatever it is, it's his. It's none of my business." I looked over at Arcanine. "Hey, Arcanine, can you help me?"

"Arf?" He tilted his head.

"Lets go get some fire wood, okay?"

"Pi, Pi?" Pichu climbed up on my shoulder.

"Yeah you can come too." I smiled. I turned my back to Ricky. _The guy is knocked out cold. I guess leaving my stuff here would be okay. Even if he did wake up and decide to steal anything its not like he could get away, he doesn't even know where we are. _We all walked away, into the dim lit woods that surrounded our camping area.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Richard was back at Mt. Silver. His clothes were covered in red stains, splatters that covered all over his white lab coat. Conner wasn't anywhere in sight, however. "He must have already left after Kyle again." Richard frowned. He held a disk in his hand, a copy of the video surveillance system, which had recorded the killings.

Richard walked over to Conner's throne, sitting down and bringing up a video phone on the massive monitor over the door. He plugged in a number as it rang.

"What is it?" Conner barked on the other end. "And why are you in MY chair?"

"Sir." Richard spoke. "I have done what you have requested, though I had to silence a witness as well."

"Really?" Conner asked surprised. "So the little lab rat found a backbone. What proof did you bring me?"

Richard held up the DVD disk so Conner could see it before he put it into a computer tray. "This is the surveillance tape, I thought it would suffice."

Shortly after Richard put the disk in a video started to play in the small corner of the monitor, one that was visible on both ends of the video conversation. Rickard fast-forwarded the disk, skipping to the part where he showed up. The camera was in the kitchen, and showed Richard walking Charles into the freezer, looking around and motioning for the cook to come in as well. It was silent for a few seconds and then a loud gun shot went off. The door to the freezer swung open as the cook ran out of there, but was quickly shot in the back as Richard walked up behind him. Blood shot from the bullet hole as the cook fell to the ground. Richard, standing over top of him at this point, then unloaded three more shots into the cook's back, at point blank range. After that Richard grabbed several large black garbage bags from a counter near by, and stuffed the cook's body into it. He then went into the freezer, then came out with another stuffed bag. He drug them both out of sight of the camera. He cleaned up his mess, putting the used rags into another bag and then walked out of the room. The camera position then changed as he took the bodies down the hall, gun drawn in all directions as he walked into the surveillance room. Then, the tape stopped.

"Hmm." Conner said, adjusting his white mask. "That does look like you killed the cook, but what about Charles? I didn't actually see him die."

Richard then held up a rocket uniform which had blood splattered all over it. "This is his shirt and hat. I shot him in the head, which scared the cook, so he ran. I couldn't get a good shot so it took several to get him."

"And what about the bodies?" Conner asked.

"After that I put them in my car and transported them to an abandoned meat packing company. They just closed down so the electric was still on. I used a saw to cut them up into chunks, grinded the pieces with meat grinder, put them in several plastic bags, poured concrete in them, and sunk them in the ocean half way between Johto and Kanto."

"Hmph." Conner smiled. "I might just make a respectable member of Team Rocket out of you, after all. Though, you were a little late with doing it, its already night."

"I had it done within 24 hours." Richard glared. "And I killed two people, double what you told me too."

"I guess I'll let that slide." Conner said, twisting his neck around as he popped it. "After all, it was your first time killing someone. I really hope you enjoyed it." He smiled. "Because I know I would have enjoyed killing your wife." Conner laughed loudly as Richard gritted his teeth. "But, it looks like I won't get the chance, this time. You did exactly what I wanted." He then looked away from the camera as he clicked it off.

Richard clicked off the video as he sat back, letting a smile cross his face. "That stupid fool fell for it."

***_-Scene Change-_***

We were lucky to find a spring near by. I took the opportunity to let Arcanine try to wade in the water as I dove down and collected several buckets full of scum and muck. I was actually kinda glad that I bought the Pokemart out now, _those buckets really came in handy, as well as those item holders. _I swam back up, draining out the water as I stored the slush into the holders. We had already collected several stacks of firewood so we were ready to head back to camp.

"You ready, bud?" I asked, looking over at Arcanine, who was splashing in the water.

"Arf!" He yipped.

"Alright." I said, pulling out another item holder as I sucked up the mass of firewood into one. "Lets get-"

"Hahahaha!" A loud, but blood curdling laugh echoed though the woods.

Arcanine and I stood still and listened as everything went quiet. Arcanine walked out from the creek, shaking off as he walked up beside me. "Rff." He nudged me, tilting his head up, motioning for me to get on.

"Yeah… right." I said, picking Pichu up in my arms as we climbed on to his back. Like a bullet, we shot through the woods, dodging trees, branches, stumps, roots, vines and everything else that was in our way. The wind was so intense that it was hurting my eyes. I wasn't use to going this fast, well I was, but that was on my bike, and it had a windshield.

I opened my eyes when I felt Arcanine come to a stop. We were back at our campsite. I hopped off his back as I looked around. It was strange; everything was quiet, too quiet. Every time I ever went camping in the woods, or even hiking, there were animals around, making noise, but now, it was silent. I walked a little further on, over to the large tree that I threw Ricky down at. _Wait a minute! Ricky! _I looked around; I saw his bag, my bag, but not him. _Something is going on here…_ I walked around one side of the tree, stepping on a twig.

"Quiet!" I hear Ricky shuffle from the other side of the tree.

"Ricky, is that you?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah, now shut-up."

"What are you doing up?" I asked, walking around beside him. "You were out cold since you passed out in the bar." I lied. He had his back to the tree, peering around the corner of it, looking out at the forest in front of us.

"Great." Ricky said sarcastically as he began to relax. "I think you scared him off."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Scared who off?"

"Kyle, ever since Cherrygrove I had this feeling that we were being watched. About a minute ago I heard a loud laugh that woke me up, and then I saw a figure move in that bush." He then pointed over to a shrub that was about 100 or so feet away. "I went and hid behind this tree, and then you showed up. After that, I saw it dash into the woods."

Arcanine looked at him sternly. He snorted, blowing embers out of his nose. _I just don't understand why he doesn't like Ricky. Is there something I'm not seeing?_ "Oh come on Ricky." I said. "We are in the middle of the woods, I'm sure you just saw a Scyther or something."

"And what about the laugh?" He turned to face me with a serious look on his face. "Does a pokemon make a laugh?"

"I heard it too, Ricky, and not only are we in the middle of the woods, we are also on a very popular trail on the Johto League Journey that every trainer in Johto takes. I'm sure we are not the only ones in the woods, and I'm also sure no one is following us. If they were, Arcanine could sniff them out." I walked over to him, placing Pichu on his back as I put a hand on his hairy head. "Aint' that right, boy?"

"Phff." He snorted again, looking at Ricky. _What is up with him?_

"Dude, seriously, you need to keep that thing on a leash."

"BU-AHAHA!" I laughed loud. "What? Do you really think a leash will hold Arcanine back?"

"No, I guess not." He said, looking at Arcanine as he starred him down. "But, man, it sure would make me feel better. I feel like his going to bite my head off when I'm asleep."

"Oh please." I chuckled. "As long as you don't give him a reason too, he won't hurt you."

"So…" Ricky said, changing the subject. "Where are we?"

"Well… let me see." I reached into my front jean pocket, pulling out the capsule for my bike. I pushed the button, threw it in front of me and waited for the smoke to clear before I checked the GPS. "We are about 10 miles outside of Ecruteak City on our way to Olivine."

"And how far away are we from Olivine?"

"Let me see." I clicked a few buttons, plugging in the coordination's to Olivine City. The GPS processed the information and then spoke in a very electronic voice.

_"Current designation, set. Olivine City. Distance to designation is: 142 Miles and 283 feet."_

"A hundred and forty two miles?" Ricky screamed.

"Yeah, so? What does that matter?" I asked as I began to dig out all the item holders in my jacket pockets.

"Well, sorry, Mr. 'Oh, I got a really cool bike that can go a bigillion miles an hour!'" He said sarcastically. "Unlike you, I actually have to ride on my pokemon, and they need breaks every now and then. Arrggg! That kind of a trip would take me a full day, at least."

"Well, I'll have you know I'm not going to be taking my bike." I said as I began to stack some of the firewood up into a little triangle shape.

"Really? Why not?"

"Well…" I stood back, letting Arcanine flamethrower the wood until it began to burn well. It was getting so dark now that Arcanine's flames were almost blinding to look at. "I realized that I have been more worried about the gym battles than I have been anything else."

"Isn't that good though?" Ricky asked as I put some bigger pieces of wood on the fire.

"Not really. Not when you consider that I haven't even trained my pokemon very much at all during this whole time."

"But come on! You're 'the pokem-"

I looked at him sternly.

"I mean," He corrected himself. "All your pokemon are so strong anyway, why would you need to train?"

"You're right." I said, putting a pot on and pouring it full of water from a canteen I had. "The majority of my pokemon are strong enough as is to take on the Elite Four, but I do have several that are not. I have some that I haven't even trained very much at all."

"Like who?" Ricky asked, not believing me.

"Like Pichu." I said motioning over to Pichu, who was now playing on the ground with Arcanine's tail. "Don't get me wrong, he's strong, but he's still not even close."

"Alright, so you got one." He said, watching me put some dried up jerky into the pot.

"There's more." I said. "Quilava needs training, and so does Scizors, Primeape, Magcargo, and Kabutops. They all need training if I'm going to use them in the league." I paused, taking a deep breath. "As well as Raticate." I looked into the pot of stew, stirring away as I thought of my lost friend. From there, my mind quickly wondered to my other friend, the one that I had lost almost seven months ago. "Shonna…"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Richard walked out of Mt. Silver through the cave exit, heading for his car that was parked a few hundred feet away from the entrance. He shoved through the bushes, making his way to the black ragtop that waited for him on the other side. He opened the door, hopping in as a voice arose from the back seat.

"Well?" Charles asked. He was in the back seat of the small car, sitting beside the chef.

"He fell for it." Richard said, starting up the car. "As of now you both are considered dead to Team Rocket."

"Vot vil ve do now?" The chef asked.

"The fall of Team Rocket is drawing near." Richard spoke calmly as he cut over to the road which lead to Mahogany Town. "Our forces in the resistance are gathering and growing. We are waiting for the time to be perfect before we strike out and revolt. Seeing as how you both are dead, I would recommend you laying low at our hide out, until the team falls."

"Thank you." Charles said as he turned his head to look out the window. "You risked the life of your wife and your own to save ours." He began to chuckle. "And you were quite crafty about it too. Having a gun loaded with red paint, as well as having the chef and I fall on a tomato for the blood splatter effect. That was very smart."

"I want to make something clear." Richard said, as he looked at them both in the rear view mirror. "You are dead, both of you. Keep that in mind, because if you make any mistakes, any at all, well, killing a dead man would be very easy. Get it?"

"Yeah…" Charles sighed.

"Good. Now, how about some tunes." Richard turned on the radio, tuning into the Professor Oak channel. "The trip will take a few hours, so I suggest you two try to get some sleep."

They drove on through the night, speeding down a dark highway.

***_-Scene Change-_***

After we all ate and packed everything up, we got ready for bed. Though we were in the woods there were enough open gaps in the trees overhead to show stars up above us. I laid in my sleeping watching as a star shot across the sky. "Heh." I smiled. _If I could make a wish I already know what it would be._ A thought of her face came over me. The moon in her eyes, glistening with the blue tint of their sapphire shade. She smiled, sitting on the dock with me the night that my Eevee evolved. "Shonna…" I spoke so softly. "I wonder if you are looking at the same stars I am tonight?"

"Hey." Ricky said, rolling out his sleeping bag on the other side of the open area we clamed as our campsite. "What are you talking about? You mentioned this Shonda person like 50 times. What's up?"

"Her name is Shonna." I said, rolling over. "And it's none of your business, is it?"

"Hey, I'm just trying to be a friend." He paused, then continued. "You know, if you need girl advice…"

"I don't think I need any of your advice." I grumbled. "I want to love her, not screw her."

"What's the fun in that?" He gasped. "I mean, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?" When I didn't say anything he rolled over, facing the other way. "Sorry." He said. "So, what happened? If you love her so much, why did you leave her?"

"I didn't." I said, as I felt my heart skip a beat. "She left me. She left me and I was too stupid to follow after her."

"You want to tell me about it?"

"Sure." I took a breath as I dug out the sleeping pills from inside my jacket pocket. "We traveled together through all of Kanto. After I won the league she left, and I let her. After that, I have never seen her since." I stopped my story as I took one of the pills, swallowing it down without a drink of water.

"So, did ya get any?" He asked with a smile.

"Arg…" I groaned, rolling over. "Ricky, if you don't shut up with that I'm going to let Arcanine eat your head off while you sleep."

"Hahah!" He laughed. "You wouldn't do that! You're too soft!"

"Then why don't you try me?" I said in a dark voice, but I guess that sufficed, seeing as how that was the last words spoken that night.

***_-Scene Change-_***

For the next few weeks we made our way through the forest, fighting every pokemon and trainer we could find. Also, as an added bonus for me, I got to train with Articuno, that is, when Ricky wasn't around. That is, if you could call it training. All we ever did was talk, but she was very intellectual, and actually kinda fun to talk to.

Before long we did indeed make it out of the never-ending forest. Though time wasn't on our side, we still took our time and concentrated hard on our training. I could tell from our constant battling that everyone of my pokemon had grown several levels, reaching great heights in only a short time.

When we emerged outside of the forest we were beside a fence that ran around, what looked like, a dairy farm, or something like that. In half of the fenced off field there grazed Miltank, and in the other half, Tauros.

"Pi!" Pichu said as he climbed up on a fence post to look out at the herd. "Pi! Pi-chu!" He smiled happily as he pointed at a cow, looking back at me to make sure I was looking as well.

"Yeah, I see that." I said with a smile as I walked over to him. In a very quiet tone I spoke, "You better watch out though, they look mean."

"Pi?" He looked a near by Miltank grazing away. "Pi! Pi! Pi!" He laughed hard, hard enough to make him lose his balance on the post and fall. He hit the ground and rolled a little bit before bumping into something which made him stop. "Pi…" He said, rubbing his head from where he hit only to see that the thing he bumped into was a hoof. A sweat drop went over his head as he looked up at the large Miltank, who looked back at him. "Piiii!" He screamed in fear as he ran back for the fence, tears streaming from his eyes as he ran under the barbwire and hid behind my leg.

Ricky and I both laughed when this happened, making Pichu very embarrassed. "Hey bud." I said squatting down. "It's okay, that cow does look pretty mean. And just between you and me," I whispered. "I don't like cows either."

"What cha'll doin' on my property?" An older man on a Rapidash rode up to us on the other side of the fence. He had a stubbly beard, gray hair, and a lip full of chewing tobacco. "Well?" He demanded, spitting some of the juice out, making a few drops fall down on his plaid button up shirt.

"Well, Gramps," Ricky said in a smart-alic voice. "We're going to Olivine. How close are we?"

"Olivine!" The man questioned, then spat again. "Why ya'll goin' there for?"

"We are pokemon trainers." I said. "We have been in the forest for weeks and we are out of supplies. We need to get to the city."

"Pokamon train-a's, huh?" The man looked behind him, then back to us. "You gots pokamon ta ride?"

"Um…" I looked over to Ricky who shrugged. "Yeah… I guess."

The man turn to ride off with his Rapidash when he looked at us again. "Well, you comin'?"

"Oh yeah, sure." I scooped Pichu up in my arms as I released Arcanine on the ground. I hopped on him and looked at Ricky as he brought out his Dodrio. I nudged Arcanine's side with my foot, telling him to catch up to the Rapidash. When we were within ear shot the man began to speak again.

"Ya know, my son's a pokamon train-a."

"Really?" I asked. "Is he competing in the league this year?"

"Yep." He said, leading us over a hill. "As soon as he came back from Sinnoh he left, he didn't even stay to eat Stacy's dinner!"

"What was he doing in Sinnoh?" I asked.

"Yeah, its pretty far away for a little country bumpkin to go, isn't it?" Ricky smarted off.

"He done went up there to help his mother with some stuff."

"Wait." I started to think back to what he said about _'Stacy's dinner'_. "If he went to go see his mother then who is Stacy? Is she your daughter?"

"Who, Stacy?" He looked shocked. "Naaah! She was my little lady that week."

"That week?" I asked surprised.

"That week?" Ricky also looked surprised, but in a different way. "Oh my God! I can't believe it! I have finally met someone like me!" He was so happy he looked like he was about to leap on the man. "Tell me, how many girls do you get in a month?"

"Well, lets see now." He put a finger to his chin. "I reckon last month I had me about 6 or 7."

"Does that include scoring?" Ricky looked at him intently.

"Oh, I thought that's was we were talking about. If not, then I suppose 10 or so."

"Oh brother." I said, rolling my eyes. _Great, now there's two of them._ "So where are we going?" I asked, changing the subject. "You never told us, you just said to follow you."

"Back to my place." He said with a smile as he spat out some juice from the tobacco. Arcanine walked around the clump of juice that almost hit his foot. "Yep, I reckon you should meet Alice. She's a right fine cook."

"Is she pretty?" Ricky asked.

"Aren't they all?" The man asked.

"So what's your name?" I asked, trying again to change the subject.

"I'm Trevor, but you can call me Trev."

"So, Trev," Ricky spoke up. "Are there any pretty girls around here?"

"Yeah, there's lots around the beach. But," he looked over at Ricky. "Supposedly my son found the prettiest girl alive in Sinnoh. She was workin' at some ol' dump of a daycare, or somethin' like that."

My eyes opened, listening to Trevor speak. _He couldn't mean…_

"Yep," Trevor continued. "He said he put the moves on her for months before she broke. Now this is him talkin', not me, but he said she told him that if he makes it to the Elite Four that she would go out with him."

"Do you happen to know her name?" I asked, making Arcanine ride up beside him.

"Humm… her name…" Trevor thought for a moment.

_Please no, please no, please don't be…_

"Shonna." He said. As he said this I felt my heart sink. I could feel the color run from my face, my skin turn pale. It was almost as if every drop of blood in my body had just spilled on the ground. "Yep!" He continued. "The prettiest ones are always the hardest to get in bed."

"Well," I glared at him as gritted my teeth, running Arcanine in front of both Trevor and Ricky, stopping them. "You tell your son that if I ever find out he laid one hand on that woman I will burn his face off." Trevor looked at me shocked. "And you better hope that I never run into him in the league, because I will give all of his party third degree burns."

"Boy!" The man yelled as he got off his Rapidash. "You better be prepared to back up those words, cause no one talks bout my son, Travis, like that."

"Back it up?" I laughed. "Trust me, I have enough fire power to set this entire ranch ablaze. One swiveled up ol' fart isn't going to do jack to me!"

"That's it!" Trevor called out. "You asked for it! Rapidash, use Flamethrower!"

Rapidash let out a small stream of fire at Arcanine, who easily dodged it. I tugged on Arcanine's fur as he used Extreme Speed to get up right on Rapidash, then he used bite, latching onto it's neck. The Rapidash cried out as Arcanine twisted his head, still latched onto Rapidash's neck, bringing it to the ground, knocked out.

"H-H-How, How did you…?" Trevor asked as he looked as his knocked out Rapidash.

"You tell your son to drop out now." I glared, looking at his shocked face. "Because if I ever see him I'll make him regret ever being a trainer." I spun Arcanine around as we ran down the hill to the edge of the ranch. Arcanine leaped the fence, Ricky right behind us, as we took a path that looked like it would lead into town.

"Dang!" Ricky said looking back at the ranch. "You really messed that Rapidash up!"

"He said his name was Travis, right?" I asked, thinking back to Goldenrod when I saw his face on the TV screen, when it showed outside of the daycare Shonna worked at.

"Yeah, why?"

I felt the anger build up inside me. The blood that had felt like it was on the ground only moments ago was now so hot it was like it was boiling inside me. So many things were running through my head. _She never went on a date with me! I loved her! I thought she loved me. I though we had something. I would never treat her wrong, I would never hurt her, I would never try to 'get her in bed'. I love her, and then she goes after some stupid hick that only wants to screw her. _I grit my teeth. "I'll kill him. That dick head is dead!"


	15. Bikers Revenge

*** UPDATE IN PROFILE ***

I have recently added more pictures of this story. Please check them if you like the story, it might give you a better visual image. **  
**

**Chapter 14**

**Bikers Revenge**

After about an hour or two we made it to Olivine City. The nice quiet ride gave me some time to get my head level. _Though I do feel bad for the trainers that I burned up when they wanted to battle, but hey, I wasn't really thinking straight. _

The weather in Johto was changing drastically within the two months I have been here. It started off in the 40's and now its up in the 80's. _I sure am glad I brought lots of clothes with me._

"Wow!" Ricky commented as we rode into the city.

There were condos all over the place, towering high into the sky, all of them at least 40 stories tall. Shops littered the streets, making it look almost like a street-mall.

We walked past people as they moved over, making room for the two massive pokemon we were riding. From Arcanine's back I could see over everyone's heads, and could even make out what looked like a Pokecenter down by a shipping dock.

"Hey, Ricky." I said, pointing over to it. "Pokecenter up ahead." But when I turned to look at him, he wasn't there. I stopped Arcanine, turning him around, which made a lot of the people on the street mad. I stood on his back, looking over the crowd until I saw one of Dodrio's heads. I looked harder only to find Ricky standing beside it with several bikini girls hanging on him.

"Eh…" I sighed. "Oh well. Come on, bud. Lets go to the Pokecenter."

***_-Scene Change-_***

It had been weeks since I had been in a Pokecenter, so I took advantage of that. I checked out a room, let Nurse Joy take my pokemon, and the rest of my stuff I dumped off on the bed before I headed to the showers. Pichu stayed with me the whole time, of course, even in the shower. The crazy little mouse was so frightened of new places that no matter where we went he had to be within arm's reach of me. _In a way I suppose that's good, but most of the time he wont even let Nurse Joy take a look at him unless I'm there too. _

I put some shampoo in my hair, sudding it up before I put some on Pichu's fur. I scrubbed and scrubbed, making him sud-up and look like a puffy Altaria.

"Piii!" He shook his head, making the suds fly off. "Cha!" He smiled as he made a white puffy mane out of the left over bubbles.

"What do you think your doin'?" I asked playfully as I put him under the showerhead, washing off the soap.

"Cha!" He laughed happily.

I smiled looking at him as I put him back on my shoulder, letting my mind drift back to earlier that day. "I'm glad you're satisfied with me, bud."

***_-Scene Change-_***

After Pichu and I dried off I got dressed, putting on one of my newer t-shirts that I had saved away in my PC. It wasn't very special, just a plain white shirt, but in this hot weather it felt pretty good. I still wore my black biker boots and black belt, but I changed out for my lighter, more wore-in blue jeans that I had worn in Kanto. They were old, a little beat-up, but man, they were comfy. I still kept my leather jacket on me, never know where I would need it, as well as my gloves and helmet, but I put my green jacket away in the PC.

After I got dressed I grabbed my book bag, taking everything out of it with the exception of the item holders, which were now empty, and my bike stuff. Pichu hopped on my shoulder as we went into the lobby, but Nurse Joy said it would be a few more minutes until my pokemon were ready, so we decided to go to the Pokemart instead.

Pichu stayed right on my shoulder the whole time, looking around at the large buildings and all the people. For it being a large city though it sure had a small Pokemart, it was almost non-existent. _But, I guess I can understand why with all these street shops, you could buy anything you want within a one block radius of the Pokecenter._ We walked into the mart and stocked up on everything I thought we would need. Poke-food of all kinds, bottled water, a few revives, full heals, you know, all the usual, and then stored them in our item holders. When we were done there we went back to the center, gathered up my pokemon, and then walked out again.

I took a deep breath, taking in the ocean air. "Ah." I smiled. "You know, Pichu, It's been forever since I got to enjoy the beach." I smiled, looking down the road, which lead to a background of clear blue ocean waves. "The last time was…" I paused, thinking back to when me and Shonna were sitting under the stars in Kanto, looking up at the moon. The night she said I was… 'a good friend'.

"Pi?" Pichu nudged me concerned.

"Oh." I shook it off, putting a smile on my face. "Lets go check it out, want to?"

"Pi!"

I reached into my pants pocket, bringing out the capsule for my motorcycle. I pushed the button, throwing it out into the street as I opened the item holder that held my helmet, as well as Pichu's goggles. I slid his on over his eyes and slipped my helmet on. I hadn't noticed, but while I was doing that my bike had attracted a lot of attention. About 10 people gathered around, looking it up and down as I raised the hood, slid in, and then closed it up around me.

"Where did you get that?" This guy asked.

"Uh… In Kanto, about a year and a half ago, I think." I answered.

"What model is it?" Another guy asked.

"I don't know." I laughed.

Before long I had about 20 people around me, all shouting at me asking me questions about it. _I never quite understood why, but if I get pressured like this I get very claustrophobic, and having people all around me shouting for me isn't helping me much. I guess I should get use to it though, for being a Pokemon Master I have avoided the press and fan clubs quite well. But this is getting too much, I can't think, I can't breath, I need to get out of here._

I looked over at Pichu who was in his cup holder, looking back at me. I watched as he gave me thumbs up, letting me know he was ready to go. I smiled, revving the engine, making everyone clear a path as I sped away, down the road to the beach.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Sadly, the beach was not like the ones in the Seafoam Islands that I use to visit when I was a kid. Tourists were everywhere, and with them came all their trash and litter that they left behind. The beach was covered in filth. Cans laid all over the ground, clumps of tar washed up on the shore, and the sand looked more like ground up dirt than sand from all the filth that it was mixed with.

It was awful, nasty, absolutely disgusting, and the worst part was not even the trash, but all the trashy girls that were running around acting like whores. I kept driving down the beach, trying to find someplace that looked halfway decent so I could let my Pokemon play, but… nothing. What I did find, however, shouldn't have surprised me, but it did.

Down at the far end of the beach, before it turned into a semi tropical forest, stood Ricky, surrounded by seven girls, all of which were in skimpy two-piece bikinis. I drove up on the beach beside them, parking the bike in place as I looked at them all so strangely.

"Hey, Kyle!" Ricky waved at me. "I was afraid you would skip town on me again." He walked up to me, the girls still hanging on him. "Hey, nice clothes. I'm glad you changed out, you were getting' kinda raggedy in those old ones."

"Please." I rolled my eyes as I raised the hood of my bike, getting out and taking off my helmet and gloves. "Like I care what you think."

"So… like… who's this?" One of the girls asked as she hugged on Ricky's arm.

"He's my friend, Kyle." He smiled.

"Somewhat…" I said, rolling my eyes. "This stupid kid wont stop following me."

"So…" Another girl spoke up. "You're not part of that bike gang?"

"Bike gang?" I asked.

"Pi?" Pichu also asked, peeking his head out of the cup holder before running up my arm on sitting on my shoulder. He moved his hands over his goggles, pushing them up to the top of his head. "Pi-pichu?"

"Awwwwweee!" All the girls said in unison as they left Ricky's side, running over to me and grabbing Pichu off my shoulders.

"I knew none of those goons had a bike as cool as his!" One girl said.

"I know! And, like, no bad guy would ever have a cute Pichu like this!"

"I know!" The girl in pigtails chimed in. "Isn't he so hot!"

Ricky and I both jumped as the girls said this, then they continued on.

"Like yeah! Total, husband, material! He has a cute pokemon and drives a motorcycle! I think I'm in love!"

The girls were hugging, pulling, pinching, and fighting over Pichu so much that I thought that they were going to break him. Then I saw his eyes close, his pink cheeks turned yellow, and sparks started to shoot out.

"Watch out!" I screamed, running into the group of girls, grabbing Pichu away from them as he let out a massive Thunder Shock attack that shot static straight through my body. _I swear, it felt like my heart stopped._ When the attack was over I opened my eyes, and to my surprise, I didn't see hair in my face. "What the…" I ran my hand over my head to find that every hair I had was standing straight up. "Oh… Wait, if my hair is like this…" I turned around to the girls around me to see that everyone of them had their hair standing up on end.

"Bwa-hahaha!" Ricky started rolling on the sand laughing and pointing at us. It really didn't bother me, _I didn't care,_ but the girls on the other hand didn't look too happy.

"You shut up, Ricky!" One screamed. He opened his eyes to see all seven of the girls standing around him, looking down at him.

"Hey, what?" He chuckled. "Don't get mad at me, babe… babes…" He stood up. "After all, it was the little rat that shocked you."

He got a hard kick in the shin by one of the girls. "Don't you say that about Pichu!"

"Yeah!" Another girl spoke up. "He's just a cute little pokemon, you big meanie!"

They all started yelling at him, and kicking him feverishly. I couldn't help but laugh at him as I put my long hair back in its place. "Isn't that funny Pichu?"

"Pi?" He looked at me questionably as he crawled back on my shoulder.

"Haha." I laughed. "Just the fact that he always tries to get girls it hit on him, and now that he gets it, he's complaining."

"Pi…" Pichu looked down sad.

"Oh buddy, don't worry." I said with a smile. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was those girls, they-"

I stopped midsentence when I noticed all the girls, and Ricky, start to look behind me towards the road. I turned around, looking up the road at five motorcycles that were driving right for us.

"Ahhh!" The girls screamed. "It's the bikers!"

"Oh come on." I turned to face them. "How bad can these guys really be?"

"They came here about a year ago and have been running the town ever since." One of the girls shook as she spoke. "Not even the police can catch them."

"Oh wow." I rolled my eyes, thinking back to Kanto when I use to run away from the cops with ease. "I'm _REALLY_ scared." I said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

"Janet, lets go." One of the girls begged. "I don't even want to think about the last time they saw me."

"Did they hurt you?" Ricky asked, jumping up to his feet.

"Don't even think about it!" Janet said. "They will kill you!" After that all seven of the girls ran down the beach.

"Hm…" Ricky said, walking up to me. "She's got a really nice-"

"Just shut up." I cut him off, raising the hood of my bike. "Hey, you wanna get out of here before those 'bad guys' get here?" I chuckled.

"I think you're a little late, dude." When Ricky said that I was already in my seat, ready to take off when a large bike pulled up beside me. The bike was big, really big, but it still didn't match up to the 12-foot bike I was in. But his motorcycle wasn't what caught my eye, it was his face. He looked so familiar, but I couldn't place my finger on where I'd seen him before. He was tall, bald, and fat. He had a scruffy looking leather jacket, pokeballs around a black belt, and a torn shirt that looked like it came from the dump. I must say, he also smelled like he came from the dump.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" He spoke.

"Hey, Buck!" A skinny guy jumped off a bike from behind me. "Isn't that the same guy from Kanto?"

_Buck… Buck…_

"Yeah, Jed, it is, isn't it." The guy gritted his teeth.

_Buck and Jed… Buck and- _"Wait!" It hit me right then. "I remember you! You're that pompous dick head that I beat up on Cycling Road!"

"You didn't beat me up, punk!" He pointed a finger at me. "I'll have you know… the sun was… in my eyes… yeah."

"Yeah, sure." I rolled my eyes as I started my bike. "Well, I would love to whoop your butt again, buuuut…" I turned on the radio, tuning into a hard rock channel. "You're not worth my time."

"Oh really." Buck looked over at Ricky, grabbing him by the neck. "If you leave, I'll break his neck."

I stared at him for a while, contemplating about it. _Lets see, in one hand I could never be bothered by the guy again, or in the other hand I could save him and he would never leave me alone. _

"Well?" He yelled. "What's it going to be?"

"Kyle!" Ricky called out, gasping for air. "Come on! Help!"

"Eh." I shrugged, kicking up the kickstand.

"What's wrong, wussy? Running away to that bimbo of yours?" Buck cackled. I stopped what I was doing, and then glared over at him.

"Fine." I cut the key, standing up, cracking my neck. "You want your butt kicked again? Well guess what, you just made it to the top of my list." _Once again, I guess I can thank my mother and my brother for all those bloody fights I had to live through. _

I saw Buck smile, letting his eyes focus behind me. _Behind me? Why behind me? Unless…_ I moved out of the way just in time to miss one of the guys try to jump me from behind. I stuck my foot out, tripping him as he fell into the sand. When I did I saw another guy come up from my left. I purposefully fell backwards, making him miss his punch he swung. I caught myself on the way down, swinging my foot around and kicking him in the knee, making him fall. From there I quickly stood up, but when I did I felt an two arms wrap around mine as Jed put me in a shoulder lock, pushing my head down as he wrapped his hands around the back of my neck.

"Nice job, Jed." Buck said as he started to loosen his grip on Ricky. "Now make him pay, make him pay for everything he did to us. Him, and his skank!"

I struggled to get loose, but he had me in a tight hold. I watched as one of the men got a knife out of his pocket, stepping closer and closer to me.

"What? Are you going to kill me?" I asked, laughing. "Its pretty sad. Not only did you have to gang up on a 16-year-old, but you also are going to kill him. Wow, I wonder how you're going to be able to sleep at night knowing you couldn't even beat up a kid."

"We're not going to kill you." The guy with the knife said as he walked over to my right. "No, we're going for something better." I watched as he walked away from me, heading towards my bike.

"No." I said, looking at him. "Come on! You wouldn't!" I screamed. "You should know better than to ever mess with someone's bike!"

I watched as he scrapped the knife over the paint job, making deep gashes in the side. He then went to the seat, stabbing holes in it, kicking out the stereo system, and smashing in the radio. He then went to the rear tire, the largest tire on the bike, the one that is almost three feet in diameter. He pulled back the knife, stabbing it as it deflated to the ground.

They were all standing around laughing when I looked over at Ricky. I was mad, probably madder than I ever been in my life. Not only did they screw around with my bike, but they insulted Shonna. _I will not let them get away with that._ I saw a smile come over Ricky's face as he nodded to me. He ran his eyes over to the bike, motioning for me to look over there. I turned my head again to the bike, and this time, I saw something different. Sticking out of one of the cup holders was a little yellow and black ear. I smiled, knowing what Ricky was thinking.

"Oh… you idiots have done it now." I said, looking at Buck. "You better let me go now, or you will regret it."

"Bwahahah!" They all laughed. "Did you hear that boss? The kid is going to make us pay! Haha!"

"Alright, I warned you." I nodded at Ricky. "Pichu! Thunder, now!"

As soon as I said that the sky went black, and a massive yellow beam of light shot out from my bike, shocking the guy beside it with enough force to knock him out.

"What?" Jed screamed, letting lose of his grip from me for just a second, but that was all I needed. I reached up with my left hand, grabbing his hair and pulling his head over my left shoulder. I then tilted my head to the right, leaving and open gap to his face as I swung with my right fist, punching him in the face. I felt his nose break with my first punch, but it took three more to get him to let go. When he finally let go of me I spun around, grabbing his head by the hair with both hands, and ramming my knee into this forehead. When he fell to the ground I raised up my foot, kicking him in the side with my steeled-toed boots. In the corner of my eye I saw a man running at me. I sidestepped him, tripping him with my foot as I kicked him in the face.

I spun around just in time to see Ricky wrap his leg around Buck's ankle, making him them both fall backwards. Ricky landed on top of him, shoving his elbow into Buck's rips repeatedly. I saw that the only guy left standing was already on his bike. At first I thought he was going to ram us, but instead he took to the road, and drove off.

I walked over to Buck, looking down at him as he cough up blood. I grit my teeth as I saw him open his eyes. He reached to grab for my leg, but I jumped out of the way. "I wouldn't do that if I was you." I spat. "Three of your guys are down, one ran away, and I really don't think you should piss me off any more."

"You little…" He coughed. "I'll kill you!"

"Yeah." I smirked. "I'd like to see you try." With that I kicked him in the face as hard as I could, making teeth and blood fly out everywhere. Buck rolled over, knocked out.

"Well that was fun." Ricky said. "You know, except the part where you left me for dead!" He screamed. "What the heck? You were just going to leave me?"

"No." I lied, spitting on Bucks face as I walked over to his bike. "I was going to charge at them with my bike and scare them. But, it didn't work out that way." I took the key out of the ignition, unfortunately, also breaking it in half.

"Really?" Ricky asked. "You were going to try to save me?"

"Don't get use to it." I lied again as I unscrewed the gas cap on the bike. I turned it on its side, letting the gas run on the sand. I pushed the other bikes over to Buck's and did the same. "Hey Ricky." I asked.

"Yeah?" He said as he watched me.

"Got any beer on you?"

"Wow!" He smiled. "I thought you would never ask! Heck yeah I do!" He threw down his bookbag as he brought out an item holder. Inside the holder was close to a thousand dollars worth of alcohol of all kinds. "So what do you want to try for the first drink?"

"All of it."

"All of it!" He gasped. "Dude, not even I can drink all of this stuff! You'd die!"

"Exactly." I said as I grabbed several bottles, throwing them around all over the place, most of them I opened and poured out.

Ricky watched as I poured out all of his alcohol collection. "What are you doing?"

"Making a crime scene." I said, looking around making sure no one was watching. "The bikers have already scared off all the people in this area, and the cops will be up here sometime to check it out. If we make it look like they all got drunk and then did all this crap to themselves…"

"Oh!" Ricky nodded. "Then we will get off Scot-free and they will go to jail with a major fine."

"Bingo." I said with a smile.

I drug the bikers bodies far enough away from the bikes that they wouldn't get hurt, then I packed up my bike as I over looked the damage. _If I'm lucky then the bike shop over here might be able to fix it, but… I don't know._ I brought out Arcanine as Ricky brought out his Dodrio. "So now what?" He asked.

"Now." I said as I gave Arcanine a pat on the head. "We sit back and watch the fireworks." As we walked away Arcanine spat an ember attack at the piled over motorbikes, all of which went up in flames, thanks to the open gas caps. It wasn't until we made it to the Pokecenter that the first bike blew up. It was a loud enough explosion that you could hear it even two miles away.

The Nurse Joy jumped from her seat as she ran to the door. "Oh my gosh!" She screamed.

"What is it?" I asked, acting like I didn't know what was going on.

"Something blew up at the ocean!" She screamed.

"Really?" I asked, looking down at where we left the bikers. "Aw, man. I was about to go down there too." I lied.

"Oh well." Ricky spoke. "Looks like we'll have to go to the gym instead. Too bad."

"Yeah, I guess so." I smiled. "Thanks for everything Joy, I hope it all works out."

"You all be carful now!" Joy screamed as we walked out.

"So you think she knows?" Ricky asked.

"Knows about what?" I smiled.

"You know…" he looked around uneasy.

"Nope. I sure don't." I chuckled. "I sure don't."


	16. Steeling for a Battle

**Chapter 15**

**Steeling for a Battle**

Like a lost puppy Ricky followed me into the gym. I don't really know why he was acting like this, its not like he hadn't been here before, I mean, he had seven of the eight badges already.

"Hey," I asked Ricky, looking around the room at all the steel beams that jetted out of the ground. "What's up?"

"Nothing…" He said, looking around. "Nothing's up. Why do you ask that? I mean, its not like this chick hates me or anything. Heh, heh."

"Wait… What?" I stopped in the middle of the hallway. "Didn't you already get the Gym Badge here?"

"Well, yes." He looked down the dark hallway in front of us. "But, well, you see… um…"

All of lights began to turn on, one at a time down the long hallway. "Why are you here?" A woman's voice echoed through the hall.

"I'm here for a gym battle!" I called out, looking around but not seeing anyone.

"I'm not talking to you!" The voice screamed. "I'll have you know, Ricky, I have a restraining order out for you, and you are in violation of it."

I turned around to look at him cowering behind me. "What did you do?"

"Well, I might have came on to her a little, um, too much."

"Too much? How much? If she has a restraining order, what in the world did you do?"

"Actually," A girl said as she entered the hall from a side door further down. "I'm surprised you have made it this far in this gym without the police finding you, Ricky. My father has been here around the clock." I turned the face her. The girl was in a blue and white dress with a red ribbon on her chest. Her brown bangs were pulled back into pigtails as the rest of her hair hung long behind her back.

"Oh." I said, looking back at Ricky. _I noticed all day that he was either hiding behind me or saying in the shadows of the town. I guess I know why, now. He's running from the cops._

"Listen, kid." The girl said looking at me. "If you are with that monster…"

"No." I said, looking at her. "I have nothing to do with him, or what he did. I am Kyle Gray, from Viridian City, and I have come for a gym battle."

"Then why is he here with you?" She asked, pointing at Ricky.

"This stupid kid started following me in New Bark Town and now I cant shake him." I then laughed. "Heck, if you want to call the cops now go for it. Your business with him is between you two, not me. I could care less what happens to him."

At first she didn't say anything, but then she turned around, raising her hand. "Follow me, Mr. Gray." Ricky and I both shrugged as we began to follow. "Not you, Ricky. You stay here." She turned around to face him and grinned. "My father would like to have a few words with you. Being the head of the police here in Olivine he might let you go with a few bruises instead of a fine."

I heard Ricky gulp as a police officer stepped out of the shadows behind him. The cop was in full uniform as he put a hand on Ricky's shoulder. Ricky turned to look at him as his face turned to a shocked look.

"Punk." The cop spoke. "I'm going to love doing this."

"Come on…" Ricky said as he tried to back away. "I'm a, I'm a minor! You can't hurt me!"

"You got to think, punk. Who are they going to believe, a cop, or a juvenile delinquent that gets his kicks from molesting women?" The cop said as he drug him into a dark room.

"Please, follow me." The girl said as we walked into a battle room. She took one side of the field as I took the other. "I am Jasmine, leader of the Olivine Gym."

"I am Pokemon Master, Kyle Gray." I said as I stood with my back straight, almost forgetting Pichu was on my shoulder from him being so quiet.

"Yes, I know." Jasmine smiled as she pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. "I recognized you from your victory in the Kanto League last year. Also, I got a tip about a kid that has been sweeping all the gym leaders clean. Actually, I thought for a minute you dropped off the face of the planet, seeing as how long it took you to get here."

"What do you mean?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Well, the other four gym leaders said you beat them in less than three weeks." She smiled. "That is amazing. That would mean that you would have to win a gym match every five days or so."

"Okay. What's so unbelievable about that?" I asked.

"Nothing. That is if you never sleep and are constantly on the run." Her face turned serious. "In fact, I am surprised you even had time to train during those three weeks."

"I didn't." I smiled. "Actually, that's why it took me a month to get down here. I had been neglecting to train my new pokemon, but that short break I took was all I needed."

"How so?" She asked.

"Well, if you allow your weaker pokemon to train with pokemon that beat the Elite Four their skill and power will go up tremendously in a short time."

"I can see that happening." Jasmine smiled. "But I feel as if I should tell you that I am not like the other gym leaders. From here on the rest of the gym leaders are very skilled, not some kids that got their new pokemon."

"So I have been told." I said with a smile as I reached for a pokeball around my belt. "But hey, enough chit-chat, I got a deadline to meet. Heh, Only got four months to make it to the league."

"Very well then, if you are that eager to lose." Jasmine said as she took a pokeball in her hand. "This will be a three on three battle with the opponent being able to switch. Gym leader makes first move. Go! Magneton!"

She threw the pokeball out making a large Magneton float out. "Mag-ne-ton." It spoke in a voice that reminded me of a robot from an old tri-color movie.

"Alright." I smiled, already having my hand on the pokeball I wanted to use. "This will be fun. Go, Quilava!"

"Lava." Quilava said in a deep voice as he stood on the field. Within the past month he had grown a lot, and learned a lot. Him and Magcargo both learned moves, advance fire attacks and many more things off Arcanine.

"Fire type in against a steel." Jasmine chuckled. "How typical. Though, we have ways of dealing with that. Magneton! Zap Cannon!"

"Quilava!" I screamed as Magneton began to focus its magnets together as a white ball of energy appeared. "Use Quick Attack with Heat Wave." I saw a smirk come across Jasmine's face.

The ball of energy grew and grew and then was released in one massive ball. The energy ball moved fast, heading straight for Quilava, but Quilava didn't budge. He stood strong as the ball got closer and closer, and finally it struck. But the ball didn't hurt him; instead it passed straight through him, almost like he was a ghost.

"What?" Jasmine yelled.

"Now!" I said as Quilava let out a roar, followed by a wave of hot air that struck Magneton hard, making him pass out instantly.

Jasmine recalled her pokemon as she looked at me. "How did you do that?"

"Simple." I smiled. "Quilava used Quick Attack at the last second to make it look like the attack passed straight through him, then used Heat Wave when your pokemon was left open."

"Hmm." She smiled. "Very smart, but your speed wont help you in this battle. Go, Forretress!" Jasmine threw out her pokeball making the bug pokemon spin onto the field.

"Forre!"

_A bug-steel type against a fire? Is this girl nuts?_

"We end this now." Jasmine spoke. "Forretress, use Iron Defense!"

"Quilava, use Flamethrower!"

Forretress sucked itself inside its shell, much like a turtle would do, then it began to glow a bright white. Quilava took a deep breath, sucking in air as he blew out a large stream of fire that engulfed Forretress. When Quilava's attack was over Forretress was still inside of its shell, and it was still glowing bright white.

"Now, Forretress! Rapid Spin!"

"Quilava! Use your-" But it was too late. By the time I was able to speak my attack Quilava was already on the ground, hit by Forretress. I looked up at Jasmine. "So…" I asked. "I always though Forretress were slow pokemon. How did you get yours so fast?"

"A little thing called EV's." She said calmly. "I thought that the all powerful 'Pokemon Master' would know about that."

_EV's? I remember reading about that in some of Mom's old research papers a few months ago, but I didn't think they were real._

"It's a nifty little research project." Jasmine smiled as she explained. "Turns out that certain pokemon have some deep abilities in their subconscious. If you battle a certain kind of pokemon enough then your pokemon would be more gifted in that area of battle. A lot of people say that a more 'well rounded' pokemon is the way to go, but I beg to differ."

I watched as Quilava stood. He wasn't hurt; at least he didn't look it. _If I could take a guess, he looks like he was just taken off guard. Hmm… that gives me an idea._ A smiled went across my face as I looked at Jasmine. "So you're telling me that you EV trained your Forretress to have exceptional speed?"

"But of course." Jasmine smiled. "With the strong defense that he already has the speed made it so he is unmatched."

_From what I remember of that research paper, pokemon can only learn so much from battling, and from there, their stats are set. I bet you anything she has already maxed out that Forretress on speed._ "Alright, Quilava! This is it!" I said with a smile. "Use your Heat Wave!"

"Forretress! Rapid Spin and Zap Cannon!"

Quilava let out a roar as a wave of heat went out in a sphere around him. Forretress began to spin, ramming into the sphere and smacking onto Quilava. The heat seemed to do some damage, how much I wont know, but Rapid Spin did little to nothing to Quilava.

_Exactly what I was hoping for._ I grinned. _The things speed is off the charts, but everything else is low. Defense is high, but that's only because of that shell and the Iron Defense it is using. Its Attack is so low even one of the most powerful attacks wont do much damage, and its HP, man his HP must be close to nothing._

Forretress then stopped spinning as Quilava stood up. Out from its shell it came, as the white glow left. Forretress formed a large ball of energy in front of its body.

"Quick Attack!" I screamed

"Corner it!" Jasmine said.

No matter where Quilava ran, Forretress was there and stopped him every time. The energy ball quickly grew as Quilava looked at me, worried. I looked at him, and then at Forretress, noticing that its Iron Defense was down.

"Quick!" I yelled. "Flamethrower to the face!"

Quilava quickly let out a Flamethrower that struck Forretress dead on, but it also caused Forretress to release his Zap Cannon too early, making it strike Quilava. Both pokemon fell to the ground, and then struggled to stand. But as Quilava stood, he began to glow a bright white. He grew three times his size and the fire patch on his back moved up to a mane around his neck.

"Ty!" Typhlosion screamed, letting out a wave of heat that scorched Forretress even more. Forretress quickly moved inside of its shell, putting on its Iron Defense again, but it was apparent that this battle was going to be over soon.

"Congratulations." Jasmine said as she looked at her almost passed out Forretress. She then smiled as she looked at me. "But don't think your new pet will last through this battle."

My eyebrow rose as I looked at her. _Does she really think she could win? That think is on its last leg, while Typhlosion has only just begun._ "What are you talking about?" I asked

"This." She grinned. "Rapid Spin with Explosion!"

"Oh no! Typhlosion! Look out!"

I watched as the Forretress spun rapidly, getting only inches away from Typhlosion's face when it exploded. Chunks of its shell went everywhere, much like a grenade that throws pieces of shredded medal in all different directions. Shell dug deep into Typhlosion's face as a large shockwave hit him hard, making him fall to the ground. Both pokemon fell, passed out.

"That was a cheap move." I gritted my teeth as I recalled Typhlosion. "You couldn't win a fair fight so you made sure to take me down with you."

"Yeah, so?" She looked over at me as she recalled her Forretress.

"Do you not even care that you hurt your own pokemon?"

"Of course I do." She glared. "But I did what I had to do to make sure I would win."

"Well you haven't won yet." I said as I reached for the pokeball around my neck. "This fight is far from over."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Ricky wiped the blood away from his knuckles as he handcuffed the cop to a nearby pole. The cop was bloodied up really good, while Ricky only had a busted lip and black eye.

A few minutes prior it was the other way around, however. Ricky was the one cuffed up with the cop beating him down. Luckily Ricky had been in these kinds of situations before, and he learned a few tricks from them. One being, how to get out of handcuffs. Actually, it was quite easy once you learned how to do it, but it looked like this cop has no idea.

After only two punches from the cop Ricky was free. He then grabbed a pipe on the ground and beat the cop's face in. He hated being so brutal, but it was the only way he could see to get out of this situation.

Ricky turned to walk out of the dark room, running his hand though is red hair, which masked the blood that had stained it. "Wait…" The cop murmured out. "Wait…" He coughed, spitting up blood.

Ricky turned to look at him over his shoulder, keeping one hand on the door.

"Tell me… where did you learn to fight… like that…"

"Hmm." Ricky smiled as he locked the door. "Blame my old man, cop." He then shut the door, locking the beat up man inside.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Prepare for my most powerful one!" Jasmine said.

"You too." I spoke, yanking the pokeball of the magnet attached to my necklace.

"Go! Steelix!"

"Go! Arcanine!"

Both pokemon stood strong on the battlefield when they came out, but Steelix towered high above Arcanine. It let out a roar, which shook the lights above us. Though the roar was loud, Arcanine didn't budge or flinch at all. He stood there, like a statue, waiting for my orders.

"You have a very loyal Arcanine there." Jasmine said. "I see them all the time at my fathers work, but rarely do I see one like yours."

"Thank you." I said. "But flattering me wont make me go easy on you."

"I didn't plan on it to." Jasmine spoke as she raised up a hand. "Let's end this fast. Steelix, use Stone Edge."

_Crap, that's one of the most powerful rock type moves, and Arcanine is weak against that._ I watched as some small stones started to float in the air. "Only got one shot at this, but, Arcanine! Dig!"

The stones began to fly at Arcanine as he dug franticly, tearing though the thin metal floor that was in the gym. He was able to evade the majority of the rocks, but some still hit him. When Steelix's attack was done, Arcanine was nowhere in sight.

"Steelix." Jasmine said. "Watch out, it's underground. Feel out the vibrations of the digging."

I watched as the massive rock snake pokemon closed its eyes. It sat in silence as it listened, or felt the ground, or something. Suddenly it jumped, moving out of the way as Arcanine leaped up out of the ground.

"Crunch!" Jasmine yelled as Steelix caught Arcanine in its mouth, midair.

"Oh no!" I watched in horror as Steelix crunched down on Arcanine. He cried out in pain, barking the whole time. "Arcanine!" I screamed. "Flamethrower!"

Arcanine was deep in Steelix's mouth when he let loose the powerful fire attack, which scorched the inside of its mouth and throat. Steelix released Arcanine, making him fall to the ground with a thud. Steelix franticly shook its head as Arcanine struggled to run back over to me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, running my hand over him.

"Arrrfff…" He winced as I ran my hand over his ribs. _They are broke._ I sighed, looking at him as I reached for his pokeball. His eyes opened wide as he stood tall, shaking his head.

"Arcanine," I spoke. "You are too hurt to battle, now return."

The beam of light shot at him, but he dodged.

"Arcanine, I said return!"

He dodged again, and then snorted embers as he looked at the Steelix.

"What's wrong?" Jasmine asked. "Is he too much for you, big guy?" She mocked, making Arcanine mad.

He let out a roar as he bolted to Steelix, trying to build up enough speed for an Extreme Speed attack, but with his ribs broke, he could barely run.

"Arcanine! Stop now!" I screamed, but he didn't listen to me. The Steelix, as well as Jasmine was taunting him, dragging him in to his demise, and there was nothing I could do but watch.

Arcanine began to run at full speed, covering his body in a blaze of fire and he struck the side of the Steelix hard. I watched as Arcanine's shoulder dislocated with the impact of the steel pokemon. The flames covering Arcanine fell as his leg went limp. He struggled to stand, now only being able to use three of his legs. Steelix lifted up its tail, making it glow a bright white.

_Oh no, that's an Iron Tail!_ "Arcanine! Please move!" But it was useless. As well as dislocating his shoulder, Arcanine also paralyzed himself. The large tail crashed down on Arcanine, slamming him into the ground. When the tail was lifted, Arcanine was left under it, passed out.

"Great." I muttered as I recalled him. _But that monster of a pokemon had to take some damage._ I looked the Steelix over, noticing that it was taking lots of deep breathes, and that the scorches on its mouth and body wasn't going away. _So, its burned, and probably below half life._

"Are you going to make a move or not?" Jasmine asked. "After all, you are on a tight schedule."

I glanced up, reaching for Magcargo's pokeball. _No, wait. That thing knows Stone Edge, and using Magcargo would be suicide. He is so slow that he couldn't dodge any of the attacks. Kabutops wouldn't be any good either, and Pichu couldn't handle a thing like that, he doesn't have enough experience yet._ I looked over at him as he hid in my book bag. "Wait." I started laughing.

"What?" Jasmine asked. "What is it?"

"I just remembered something." I laughed. "Something that won my way into the Elite Four. Something that I had completely forgotten about up until now."

"And what is that?" Jasmine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This." I reached for a pokeball, throwing it out. "Go, Gyarados!"

"DOOOOOOSSS!" Gyarados roared in a deep, low voice. He slithered up to his side of the field, standing just as tall as Steelix.

"Hah, hah, hah!" Jasmine laughed. "My gosh, I thought you of all people would know that water attacks do hardly any damage to steel type. What an amateur move."

"Then why don't you come and prove me wrong?" I smiled.

"Fine." She grinned. "I will. Steelix, Thunder Fang!"

Steelix mouth began to spark as it slithered over to Gyarados. I waited till it was in close range before I barked an attack.

"Gyarados!" I screamed. "Flamethower!"

"What?" I heard Jasmine scream as her Steelix was engulfed in a mass of fire and flames. Scorches went all over its body as it still pressed on, making its way to Gyarados as it bit down hard, making electric surge though his body.

"Gaaarr!" He cried out.

"Now!" I screamed. "Hyper Beam!"

I watched as Jasmine's smile turned into a scared look. Steelix, unable to evade the close counter attack, was hit point blank with the powerful Hyper Beam. The blast was so strong that it knocked Steelix out of this Thunder Fang attack and smashed him into the wall, knocked out. Shortly after, Gyarados fell, paralyzed from the electric attack.

"Well, I guess that's it." Jasmine said as we both recalled our pokemon. "Congratulations, Kyle. You have beaten me in battle, and now I am proud to reward you with a Mineral Badge. Wear it proud, because few people ever make it this far into their journey."

"Thanks" I said, stuffing it in my pocket. "But if you will excuse me I need to run my pokemon to the pokecenter."

"Yeah I guess that's right, I did go a little crazy on you back there." Jasmine said, rubbing her head. "I'm sorry about that, but it's been so long since I had a good battle, I couldn't help but go all out on you."

"Hey that's cool and all, but I really gotta go." I ran down the hall. "Later!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

I ran down the hallway, making my way back to the area where I saw Ricky being drug into a room. I walked over to it, twisting on the doorknob, but it was locked. "Wait, what am I doing?" I asked myself. _Why would I care what happens to him? He has been nothing but trouble ever since I met him._ "Hmph." I smiled. "Yeah, he should get some since knocked into him." I then bolted for the exit, running outside. The light was blinding, much like it was every time I left a gym, even when it was about 6 or so in the afternoon.

"So how'd it go?" I heard a familiar voice. I turned around to see Ricky standing beside the door. His black and white striped hoodie was covered in what looked like bloodstains, though he didn't look like he had many cuts on him at all. Only a busted lip and a black eye, nothing compared to the blood that was covering his shirt.

"What happened to you?" I asked, looking at the bloodstains.

"Eh, nothing I couldn't handle." He smiled, stretching as he walked in front of me, leading me away from the gym. "So? Did you win or not?"

"Yeah, I guess I did." I said, looking at Arcanine's pokeball. "I really need to get to the Pokecenter though."

"Well, okay. I guess I'll meet you there." Ricky said, walking away.

"Where are you going?"

"Clothes shopping." He said as he took off his shirt, throwing it in some dumpster.

"Yeah… Sure." I said, watching as he disappeared into the sitting sun, down the streets of the city. I shook my head as I focused on the task at hand. I bolted down the street, to the red and white sign that stood tall, lighting the way to the Pokecenter.

***_-Scene Change-_***

I fell on the bed as Pichu curled up beside me. It was night already, 3am to be precise, and Nurse joy had been working around the clock on Arcanine since we got there. She was finally able to get him stable when she told me I should go onto bed. She said that all he really needed was a few days of bed rest and he would be fine.

Typhlosion and Gyarados on the other hand hardly had a scratch on them. All it took to get them back on their feet was a round though the auto-pokehealer. Joy said they passed out more from shock than anything else, Gyarados more literally.

I rolled over, looking at Pichu as he nuzzled up on the pillow. "Little bud, what should I do?"

"Pii?" He struggled to open his eyes, looking at me as he nodded off the whole time.

"I need to get on the road. We only have four months to get everything done. And if I want to get up there in time to scope out the competition, I guess we only really have three months to get to the League. We need to get going, and Arcanine's not going to be able to go with us."

"Piiiiii!" Pichu yawned as he closed his eyes.

I rolled over, looking up and the ceiling. _What am I going to do?_ I then reached in my book back, searching for my pills. When I finally found them, I pulled them out, but when I did I heard something fall to the floor. I looked over off the bed and saw, laying beside my book bag, a Rare Candy.

"Oh my gosh!" I jumped up. "I forgot I had those things!" I dug through my bag, looking for the rest of them, seeing there were four left. "Yes, that just might work." I ran for the door, grabbing my key and locking it as I shut it behind me, running down the hall. I franticly searched for Nurse Joy's room, checking every room number until I came to one that said 'Joy'. I beat on the door, calling out. "Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy! Please answer!"

The door creped open as the Joy walked out in her pajamas. "Mmmm." She groaned. "What is it now, Kyle?"

"My Arcanine, I think I can help him!"

"You can help him by letting him sleep." She yawned. "And me too. So, good night."

I stuck my foot in the door, stopping it from shutting. "Listen, I have four rare candies in my possession." I said as I held them out in my hand. "I know they work by instantaneously boosting a pokemon's power and health, but do you think it could help heal bones?"

The Joy looked at the candies in my hand, and then looked at me. "Mr. Gray, I'm sure that I don't need to tell you this, but those were discontinued from production several years ago. They are considered illegal substances and I condone such behaviors in my center."

"Joy." I looked at her pleadingly. "Please."

"Ahh…" She sighed. "Pokemon do heal a lot faster than humans, but it will still take about two weeks for those bones to heal back properly. I will release him into your care tomorrow." She began to walk away as I put a hand on her shoulder.

"Joy. Will you please answer my question?"

"I already told you how I feel. It is my duty to get pokemon healthy enough to return to their trainer, after that, its on them." She shut the door. "Do whatever you want."

I sighed, walking down the hallway that led to Arcanine's room. I peeked in, looking at the dog sleeping on a stretcher with bandages wrapped around him. Stuffing the candies into my pocket I walked down the hall to my room, unlocking the door and stepping in. I took my pill, laid down, and just took everything in. "Tomorrow, after I get Arcanine back, I'll go check on my bike. From there, I guess I'll take a ferry to Cianwood City for my next badge." I rolled over, watching Pichu sleep. "From there… who knows."


	17. A Broken Bike and a Chuck to Fight

**Chapter 16**

**A Broken Bike and a Chuck to Fight**

It was early in the morning when I woke up, if you could call it waking up. I hardly slept at all that night, I was worried so much about Arcanine that I made trips to see if he was okay every thirty minutes or so. I looked over at the digital read out on the videophone. "6:30, huh? Eh, oh well." I stretched, getting up and grabbing my toothbrush, soap, shampoo, and everything else I needed. I went to walk out and then I looked at Pichu. Normally the little rat comes with me, but he was so sleepy today that I figured I would leave him here.

I walked down the hall to check up on Arcanine. He was still asleep, but this time Nurse Joy was in there as well, checking some charts and graphs, or something. I kept walking, pushing the door open to the showers when I went in there. _I always liked being in here so early. _

When I was done I got dressed, picked up everything in my room, as well as Pichu, and walked out. We walked down to Arcanine's room, only to find it empty.

"Pi?" Pichu asked, looking around.

"Oh, I'm sure its nothing." I said with a smile. "I'm sure Nurse Joy is just letting him go on a run or something. Its okay."

"Well," Joy said walking up behind me. "Turns out that Arcanine is fine, with the exception of his broken ribs, that is. He is ready to be checked out."

"That's great!" I said as we followed Joy up to the front desk. I signed my name out as she handed me Arcanine's pokeball.

"Just keep him out of battle for a few weeks, okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I will." I smiled.

"Oh, and Mr. Gray." She said as she darted her eyes around to make sure no one could hear as she spoke in a low voice. "I did some research on your question. It is possible for them to heal your pokemon faster, but in your Arcanine's condition it might just make him worse off."

"Well, then." I looked down at his pokeball. "What do you suggest?"

"Bed rest, but I already told you that." She grabbed a clipboard with some papers on it. "Now if you will excuse me I have other patients to wait on." After that she hurried into the back.

I turned around, Pichu on my shoulder as we walked through the lounge, heading for the door, when we heard a voice. "Where you off to now?"

I turned to see Ricky's red hair draped over the back of the couch he was lounging on. "Ricky?" I asked. "Have you been there all night?"

"Nah." He motioned. "Half the night I was in Joy's room."

"Figures." I rolled my eyes as he walked up to me. I noticed he had a new shirt, a long sleeve button-up shirt that was black with red thin trim, and tight. He still wore the same black jeans and shoes, but something in his black outfit was downright scary. With his blood red eyes and hair, he looked so… evil.

"So, yeah." He said in a low voice as he walked beside me. "Tell me, where did you get those rare candies I heard about?"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked, looking at him as we walked out.

"You didn't see me in Joy's bed when you ran to her room?" Ricky laughed. "I was in there the whole time, I heard every word of it."

"Well, you can just forget you heard it." I said in a scuffle. "I have only used one of those before, and that was on a pokemon that wasn't mine… yet. And I don't plan on using them ever again."

"Then why don't you give them to me?" Ricky asked, holding out his hand. "I can make good use out of them."

"No thanks." I brushed him off. "I said that I didn't plan on it, but if worse comes to worse, I might have to."

The rest of the trip to the bike shop was silent. Ricky didn't say anything, and I was glad of it. _I suppose it was nice to have someone to talk to, but man, he always got on my nerves so easy. I think he has been realizing it too. For the past month he has stayed pretty much silent. _

We walked into the bike shop to see bicycles of all kinds hanging from hooks, stands, and pretty much anything else it could to be showcased.

"What may I do for ya?" A guy in a nice suit walked up to me. "Are ya looking for a bike deal? Cause we got the best deals around here!"

"My bike is pretty messed up." I said. "I need parts, tires, and someone to fix it."

"Hmmm." The guy rubbed his chin. "What model of bike is it?"

"Its an Akira model motorcycle." I said, bringing out the capsule.

"Oh, a motorcycle. I'm sorry young man but we don't work on motorcycles here. The nearest place around here for that is in Goldenrod City." He said as he pointed his finger east. "There's a few shortcuts to get there, but either way it would take you about three or four days of walking." He then smiled. "But if you bike it, it would only take you about a day, maybe even less. How about it, son, would you like to buy a bike?"

"No thanks." I said as we walked out.

"Well that was a waste of time." Ricky said, slamming the door shut. "So where now?"

"Well, I'm taking a ferry to Cianwood City for my sixth gym badge."

"Hey, what a coincidence." Ricky said. "That's the only place that I haven't got a gym badge from yet."

"Wow… that's great." I said as I rolled my eyes.

"So what about your bike? When are you going to get it fixed?"

"I guess after I get my badge." I said as we walked towards the shipping dock. "I can't ride on Arcanine because of his ribs being broke, so I guess I'll surf to Goldenrod on Gyarados."

"You can do that?" Ricky asked. "I didn't think you could get to it that way."

"Why not?" I asked. "If I just follow the shoreline I should get there in no time."

"Oh I see. Goldenrod and Olivine are both port cities by the sea."

"Bingo." I said as I walked up to the ticket booth." One…" I paused, looking behind me. "Make that two for Cianwood."

The lady rang it through a machine that spat out the tickets. "Two for Cianwood, that will be $60." After I paid the lady she handed me the tickets. "The ferry will be departing in fifteen minutes. You have just enough time to make this boat. It's the first one on the left."

"Thanks." I said with a smile as we ran to the first boat we saw, flashed the man our ticket, and walked aboard.

"So, you said you were going to surf on Gyarados to get to Goldenrod, right?" Ricky asked when we were on board.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, wouldn't it have saved you money to surf over to Cianwood City as well?"

"I suppose it would have, but I don't know about the terrain here in Johto. I have heard that whirlpools are everywhere here, and if you don't know how to steer clear of them then you'd be in some deep crap."

"So, you're just taking this ferry as a way to see how to avoid whirlpools?" Ricky asked.

"Yep." I said. "This will help me out a lot to see how the ship handles on the waves, as well as the whirlpools."

"Thanks, Kyle." Ricky said as he handed me $30. "For the ticket, ya know?"

"Don't worry about it." I said with a smile. "Keep it. I have plenty of money."

"So do I." He said as he stuffed the money into my pocket. "After my father died I inherited a lot."

"Really? How much?" I asked.

"More than I will ever use." He grinned. "How about you? How did you get all your money?"

"In the… umm…" I thought of how to put it. _I can't really say I swindled it off an old man in Kanto, though that was true. I couldn't say it._ "In the gold market." I said.

"So you played the stocks?"

"Something like that." I smiled.

"Well, I guess I'll go find a bench or something to rest on." Ricky said as he walked away, folding one of his hands into a fist. "Joy kept me up most of the night, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, sure." I said, watching as the ferry started to take off.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Ricky walked to the other side of the boat, far enough away so Kyle couldn't hear him. He lifted up his hand as he reclined on a bench. When he opened his fist, a small blue wrapper fell on his shirt. "Thanks for the candy, Kyle." A smile went across his face as he looked over at the island they were passing by. "If the legends are true, this might just come in handy."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The ship was sailing, and right off I noticed whirlpools everywhere. Though, something was strange about them. It seemed as it the majority of them was focused around these four small islands that, surprising, were deserted.

"Its it a beautiful sight." A man in a white sailor suit said.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"The islands." He said as he took a good look at me. "You're new here, aren't you?"

"Well, I've been in Johto for about two months." I said. "Though I haven't stayed in one place for more than a couple days."

"Ah." He said looking at the pokeball around my neck. "So you're a trainer."

"Yep, I sure am."

"Going to challenge Chuck, huh?" The sailor asked. "Ha, I would suggest a lot of training before you go there, hardly anyone wins against Chuck."

"Well, what about those islands." I said, pointing over at them. "Would that be a good place to train?"

"I suppose so." The sailor said. "But no one has been there in years. Those whirlpools are too vicious for anyone to go through. Those islands are deserted, and always have been. Everyone that tries to get there by boat or pokemon ends up in the hospital, or they don't end up at all, if you know what I mean."

"Then how did the last person get there?" I asked.

"He flew." Then the sailor took a deep breath. "But then his plane crashed. That was over five years ago. Everyone says he died."

"Didn't anyone try to fly over there after him?"

"Sure they did. But the winds whipping through those islands make it nearly impossible to fly in there, even on pokemon. Those winds are so strong that they stir up whirlpools, the same ones that you see there." The sailor said as he pointed at a massive whirlpool a few hundred meters away.

"What do you think it would take to fly there?" I asked. "Pokemon wise, that is."

"One heck of a strong pokemon." The man laughed. "I'd say the only birds that could last through a wind like those would be a legendary one. But good luck with that." He laughed more as he walked away.

"Yeah." I said with a smile. "Luck. That's something I might just have." I looked behind my shoulder, seeing Ricky on the other side of the boat, reclining and looking out at the islands. _I wonder if he wants to go there too?_

***_-Scene Change-_***

A few hours passed before we made it to the shores of Cianwood City. The boat landed on the docks and it surprised me how few people there truly was on this island. Beside the Pokemart, Pokecenter, and Gym, everything else was a hut, and there were no people in sight at all. It looked like everything else on this island was just tropical forest.

"Man," I said looking at everything as Ricky walked up beside me. "This is even smaller than my hometown."

"See why I put this off to last?" He said, looking out at the beach. "Look, not even a bikini babe in sight. Olivine was much better."

"We're not here for a booty-call." I snorted at him. "I'm here for the badge, and that's it. After that I'm leaving."

"Eh." He sighed. "Should I buy the ticket this time?"

"No." I said, watching as the boat left. "I'm not taking the boat."

"What are you going to do then?"

"Beats me." I said. "I guess I'll stay here and train for a while, then leave on Gyarados." I lied

"Gyarados?" A voice said from behind us. I turned around and saw this fat man with brown balding hair with a huge mustache running up to us. All he had on was a red pair of torn pants and a black belt that was tied around him. It was very disturbing to see his big fat belly flopping in the wind as ran up to us. Behind him, keeping up with his pace, was a Primeape and a Poliwrath. The man stopped in front of us, out of breath and gasping for air. "The… only way…" He spoke in short gasp. "To get… across… the water… like that… is if you have a pokemon… that knows Whirlpool…"

"Whirlpool?" I asked. "What's that?"

"It's a HM they give out here." Ricky chimed in. "I let my Swampert learn it. Pretty sucky move in battle, but it works. Wanna borrow it?"

"No thanks." I said, looking to the islands. "I don't like using TMs or HMs, especially if they are pointless."

"Phew." The fat man took a breath. "So tell me, buds." He said, wrapping his sweaty, stinky arms around us, making Pichu run to my head from my shoulder. "What brings you to our beautiful island?"

"Gym battle." I said, brushing him off. "We both need to challenge the gym leader and get a badge."

"Well why didn't ya say so!" The man laughed. "Follow me, I can take you to Chuck." Ricky and I both looked at each other and shrugged as we followed the jogging fat man and his two pokemon. They led us up the shore to the small town. We hooked a right at the first hut and headed towards a giant brown building on top of a hill. It was obvious that it was a gym, even from the dock we were on previously, but we still followed the old man as he led us around a long path to get to it, instead of the straight path that lead up the hill.

When we reached the top the man fell over on his knees, breathing hard from his jog. His two pokemon walked to his side. "I'm… okay… I'm… okay…" He gasped. "Welp." He took a deep breath. "Here we are. The gym."

Ricky and I looked around, stepping inside to see just a large open battlefield made of sand, but no one there. "So, um…" I asked. "Where's the gym leader?"

"What?" The fat man jumped back. "Well, can't ya see? Its me!"

"What?" Ricky and I both said in unison.

"Yep! Chuck himself, in the flesh, baby!" He said, flexing his muscles, which didn't do much considering he was about 5 foot 5 and weighed 350 pounds or so.

"Okay, Chuck." Ricky spoke up. "We want a battle. You going to give us one?"

"Sure." Chuck said, standing up. "But I only have two pokemon, so you two are going to have to double battle. That is, if you both want the gym badges today."

I looked over at Ricky. "You ever double battled before?"

"Oh yeah, all the time." He smiled. "Back home in Hoenn it's really popular. That's pretty much the only way we battle there."

"Great." I said.

"Why? Haven't you double battled before?"

"Once." I said, thinking back to Shonna and I being in Sabrina's gym. "Lets just say it was a close battle."

"So a double battle it is!" Chuck said as he ran to his side of the field. "My two pokemon are Primeape and Poliwrath!" Chuck screamed as the two pokemon that led us up to the gym stood in front of Chuck on his side of the field. "This will be a two on two match. No switching, last side standing is the winners! Pick your pokemon wisely, because you only got one shot at this!"

"Got any ideas?" I asked, looking at Ricky.

"Yeah, I'll get defense, you get offence."

"I don't know if I can." I said, looking down at the pokemon on my belt. "Four of the six pokemon I have are automatically out because of type advantage."

"And what's the two you have left?" Ricky asked, looking at me.

"Pichu and Gyarados."

"Gyarados wont be much help unless it knows some electric attacks."

"It doesn't." I said, looking at Pichu on my shoulder. "So I guess I know which one I'm going to pick."

"You have better be right about this." Ricky said taking a pokeball in his hand. "You take down the Poliwrath, I'll get the Primeape."

"Gotcha." I looked at Pichu. "You're up bud."

"Pi?" He asked.

"Yep, you. And don't worry, all that training has paid off. You can whoop that guy!"

"Pi!" He smiled as he hopped off my shoulder, but I caught him midair. "Pi?" He looked at me.

"Listen, when I tell you to attack, you focus all your power on the blue one. Got it?"

"Pi." He nodded as he ran onto the field.

Ricky held his pokeball in his hand as he threw it out. When the ball left his hand a red light appeared, making his Swampert stand on the field.

"Swamp!" It roared as it stood beside Pichu.

"Ricky." I said to him in a low voice. "I'm going to use Pichu's speed to my advantage. I have already told him to focus his attacks on Poliwrath, focus yours on Primeape when he gets open."

"Right." He nodded.

"Lets get this bat-tle star-ted!" Chuck started to sing as he threw his fatness around in a dance. "Primeape, Poliwrath! Focus Energy!"

"Kyle, watch out." Ricky said.

"What?" I asked.

"Poliwrath aren't suppose to be able to learn that move." I looked over at the two pokemon, watching as they started to glow a bright red. "I'm sure that Poliwrath has had some special training, it may be harder to beat then you think."

"Nevertheless, its still a water type." I smiled. "And I know how to deal with water types. Pichu!" I called out. "Double Team!"

"Swampert!" Ricky screamed. "Start off with Foresight!"

Pichu began running around the room, and before long there were about fifty or sixty of him everywhere. Swampert stood still, focusing his energy as his eyes turned red. A strong gust of wind came in, blowing the shutters opened, but that was it. Swampert still stood, eyes glowing red.

"Nice one!" Chuck said. "Primape! Stop that Pichu! Poliwrath! Go after the Swampert! Close Combat, both of you!"

"Oh no." I said, watching at Poliwrath went for the wrong pokemon. "Oh well, it's now or never. Pichu! Volt Tackle!"

All of the Pichu's in the room began to glow in yellow light as one by one they ran into Poliwrath, hitting him in small burst of energy, dealing lots of damage. Still, the Poliwrath pushed on, making its way to Swampert.

"Now! Primeape!" Chuck called out as Primeape put out his hand, catching Pichu in mid-volt tackle. Primeape pulled Pichu off the ground, and as soon as he did, Ricky yelled out a command.

"Now!" He screamed. "Earthquake!" The ground shook, as rocks jetted out of the ground, dealing tremendous damage to Primeape and Poliwrath. Since Ricky waited until Pichu was off the ground, however, Pichu came out of it without a scratch. Both pokemon stood, shaking off the dirt from their heads as Pichu ran back to our side of the stage.

"Tell Pichu to get behind Swampert." Ricky whispered.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

"Alright." I said. "Pichu! Get behind Swampert!"

Chuck raised an eyebrow when I said this. "What are you up to?" He asked as Pichu hid behind the water dog. Almost as soon as he did a bright purple beam of light shot in from the windows in doors, forming a large ball of energy that struck both Primeape and Poliwrath at the same time. Both pokemon fell to the ground, and then struggled to stand.

"You gotta love Foresight." Ricky said. "Now, Kyle, Lets finish this."

"Right." I nodded. "Pichu! Thunder!"

"Swampert! Hydro Cannon!"

"Hydro Cannon?" I asked. "Don't you mean Hydro Pump?"

"Nope." I saw him grin.

Pichu let out a large bolt of lightning, which went straight for Poliwrath, striking him and knocking him out instantly. When the light left Pichu, Swampert opened its mouth, shooting out a jet stream of water that was about five times the size and power of a Hydro Pump. It struck the Primeape, pushing him back and throwing him through the wall and outside of the gym. After that, Swampert gasped for air, before falling to the ground, out of breath.

"Very nice job, boys!" Chuck said, clapping his hands as he returned his two pokemon. "Very nice job! I don't think I have had anyone beat me that fast! Very nice!"

"Thanks." I said, letting Pichu run back up on my shoulder.

"So where's the badges, old' man?" Ricky blurted.

"Well, aren't you the little rebel." Chuck said ruffling up Ricky's hair. "Here ya go, kids. Two Storm Badges!"

"Thanks" I said, taking it from him and stuffing it into my pocket. Ricky took his, stuffing it in his pocket as well.

"Well boys, that was a great battle." Chuck said. "Good luck to you two in the league."

"Thanks." I said as we walked out. We walked down the road, heading to the pokecenter when Ricky decided to speak up.

"That guy was a push over." He said. "Nothing but hot air."

"Ricky." I asked. "How did your Swampert learn that move?"

"The same way your pokemon learn theirs. Having a good trainer, that's how."

"I guess." I said, thinking about the attack. "But that seemed too powerful for a normal pokemon to learn."

"Well you saw it yourself." Ricky said as we walked into the Pokecenter. "I never use it unless I need too. It really takes a lot out of Swampert."

"Yeah, I noticed." I said as I laid Pichu on the table in front of Nurse Joy. "Could you check him for me."

"And mine too." Ricky said, laying Swampert's pokeball on the table.

"I sure will." Joy said taking them both, and heading towards the back. I saw her look back at us, checking Ricky out as she gave him a wink.

"Hey, I'll be right back." He said.

"Yeah, sure." I said rolling my eyes. "I know what you're doing."

"You mean, what I'm going to be doing." He smiled. After that he ran to the back of the center with Nurse Joy.

"Ahhh." I sighed, sitting down at a PC, logging in. "That stupid kid." When I logged in I saw that I had another Email from Mom. It read…

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray**_

_**Subject: Retrieval Needed**_

_**Pokemon Number: 2468450 – Name: Umbreon – needs to be sent immediately. Transfer as reply to message.**_

"Well… okay." I said, dragging Umbreon from my PC box to the deposit on the Email. "But she hasn't sent any of my others back yet." I then closed out of my Email running over to my grayed out icon, which represented Articuno. "I need a legendary to get across, huh?" I smiled as I placed Typhlosion on the deposit unit. It sparked as his pokeball was replaced with another. I held it up, looking at it. "I think its time I gave you some more training, Articuno."

"Pi! Pi, Pi!" I heard as Pichu ran out from the back room. I turned in the chair to look at him.

"Whats up, bud?"

"Pi! Pi!" He pointed back to the back room.

I stood up, tilting my head as Pichu climbed up on my shoulder. I made my way back to the back room and walked out as soon as I saw Ricky and Joy on the table with her skirt up and him on top of her.

"Well… um.. pIchu… lets um… get going, yeah get going." I said, running out of the Pokecenter, hoping that he didn't see very much. _Poor little guy could be scarred for life._


	18. Ricky, Rick, and RC

**Chapter 17**

**Ricky, Rick, and RC**

The forest around Cianwood City was massive; in fact, it took up almost 90 percent of the island. Needless to say, when I went for a walk in the forest it was only a matter of minutes before I was completely alone.

Pichu and I stood silent listening, trying to find out if we were truly alone._ We had grown accustom to this, and I'm glad that Pichu liked to help me. _With his big ears he can here everything in the surroundings, which came in handy.

I had left Ricky at the Pokecenter, and I knew that if I didn't move fast that he would catch up with me. _I mean, its not like he wouldn't just find me again. Heck, that kid is everywhere, it should be impossible for a person to track me as well as he has. It's almost like he has a freakin' 'Kyle Satellite Tracking Device'._

"Pi!" Pichu said as he climbed up on my shoulder, giving me the all clear.

"Alright. Thanks little bud." I smiled, patting him on the head as I reached for a pokeball. "Now. Come out Articuno!"

I threw the pokeball, and as soon as the light shot out of the device, a strong cold wind blew through the trees, making the tropical flowers suck their petals back inside their stem. The bird flew high in the sky, above the trees, leaving a thin layer of frost over every leaf and branch she touched. She let out a scream, which echoed over the forest. "BBBBBRRRRRRAAAAAAAAA!"

"My gosh." I shook my head as she landed in front of me. "Do you have to make such an entrance?"

_"Well, sorry." _She spoke telepathically in a sarcastic voice as snow began to fall around us, collecting on the trees. _"I mean, it is not like I only get to come out once every two weeks or so."_

"Ahh." I groaned. _Man, she's picking up on my smart-alic-ness. That's great._

_"It is not my fault that you are the only conversation around here."_ She mocked. _"It is said that being around one makes the individual become more adjacent to the one's personality."_

"Please don't listen to my thoughts." I pleaded. "Come on, I said –"

_"I know, I know."_ She cut me off. _"Your sorry."_ I heard her let out a sigh as she sat down the best way a bird could, getting comfy. _"Now, why did you bring me out today? Would you like to converse about, the feelings you have toward Shonna again?"_

I didn't say anything.

_"Then what is it?"_ Articuno tilted her head looking at me.

"I have a question." I said calmly. "How is it that you can read my thoughts, but you don't know why I called you out? Every time you ask me why, and every time I wonder."

"Brraaa!" Articuno called out as she spoke. _"Telepathy, as in language, is much easier for creatures to understand than humanity gives them credit for. Humans simply think to communicate through verbal expressions and tones in one's voice, which is very primitive. Highly evolved creatures, such as your so-called 'pokemon' communicate through much more advanced ways of language. Instead of using their voice, they use their body language, and from there develop different ways to read a person, or 'pokemon'. Telepathy is much like that, it's simply using ones mind instead of their body."_

"That's… nice." I said, looking at her oddly. "But you didn't answer my question."

_"To put it simply for your understanding, I can read your words before you say them, much like you read a book. Though, unlike a book, I cannot turn the pages to see what has been said or what will be said. Thus, I cannot see your past, future, or your intentions, at least, not clearly."_

"Clearly?" I asked. "How so?"

_"Nothing."_ Articuno turned her head. _"Nothing, I shall say nothing more about this matter. One should not know anything about their future, especially if it is clouded by doubt. Besides." _She paused, looking at me. _"Even if I told you what I have seen the future is always changing. Everything you do affects your future, and the choices you make have yet to be decided."_

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Is there something I should know about? What is all this talk about my future? Does something happen? Does something go wrong? What is going to ha-"

"BBBBRRRAAAAAA!" Articuno let out a loud screech, followed by a light burst of snow that she shot at me, only enough to get me to be quiet. _"Please. Stop."_ She sat back down, looking at me. _"Now, tell me what you request of me."_

"I would like you to fly me somewhere." I said with a gulp. _I know she has never flown me anywhere before, and I am actually quite afraid to ask that of her, but there is no other way I can get to those islands._

For a long time she didn't speak, and when she did I was surprised about her answer. _"So, you want me to take you to those islands? The ones I saw when I flew up?"_

"Yes. Please." I said.

"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu grinned.

_"Hmph."_ Articuno smiled as she spread her wings. She lowered down to the ground as she motioned for me to get on. _"Those islands are home to Lugia. You know that, right?"_

"Lugia?" I asked climbing on to her back as Pichu put on his little aviator goggles. "What's a Lugia?" But before she answered we took off, flying up into the sky. We flew high up into the clouds, over the small snow burst that had started.

When we were high in the sky I heard her speak. _"I miss this." _She spoke. _"Oh how much I missed this."_

"Is it not like this at the lab?" I asked, looking down at her from her back.

_"Of course its not!" _Articuno scolded. _"No human-made hologram could ever replace the world outside of confinement."_

"I promise," I said putting my hand on her head. "I promise that as soon as I know its safe for you to go I will release you."

_"I know."_ She said as she flew above the clouds. _"Lugia is a 'legendary bird pokemon' like me."_ She told me, continuing from the last time. _"As I am the superior ice species of 'pokemon', Lugia is the superior species of psychic 'pokemon'."_

"So the reason you all are called 'legendary' is because of your power?" I asked.

_"Somewhat."_ Articuno glanced at me as she spoke. _"A long time ago the 'legendary' pokemon were just as common as any other. One day man kind discovered that some pokmeon have much greater power than the others. Soon after they found ways to force pokemon to evolve, and soon came the industries devoted to that kind of science."_ She turned her head back around, turning her body as she brushed her wing into a cloud, causing ripples of the fog to stream behind us. _"Humanity began taking the 'legendary' pokmeon out of their habitats. Selling them, pawning them, experimenting on them, as well as trying to force them to evolve. Before long humanity had wiped the world clean of nearly every 'legendary' pokemon. The ones that were left were forced to seek shelter in places that were untouched by human hands, places where humans would, and could, never go."_

"That is awful." I said as we flew over Cianwood City, making snow fall on the tropical island. "I am so sorry…"

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Damn!" Ricky said, running out of the pokecenter as he buttoned up his black and red shirt. "That guy left me again." He turned around, looking all over the beach. "He's not in sight anywhere!" He then turned to the islands that were far off in the distance. "Well, I did say that I wanted to go there, but-"

Ricky stopped talking when he felt a strong cold breeze blow by him. It was almost as if he had stepped into a freezer, no, worse, like he had stepped into a factory deep freezer. He closed his eyes as he shivered, and opened them to find snow falling from the sky. "What in the world?" He asked, catching a snowflake in his hand. He looked up in the sky and saw something pretty far up that was sparkling. It was almost as if the snow was resonating from it.

Ricky watched as the plane shaped thing began to bend its wings and flap. His eyes shot open as he realized what it was. "Its… Its…" His mouth was agape as he watched it fly to the Whirl Islands. "No." He said, looking at it. "That wasn't Lugia. It was snow, I know it was snow, it had to be." He felt his throat tighten as he took a gulp. "Articuno? Here? There? Where I'm going to be?" His gaped face quickly turned to hate as he reached for Swampert's pokeball. "I don't know how that thing got here, but it's going to pay."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The winds started to pick up as we flew over the canyons that separated the islands. They were vigorous and rough, but for Articuno it seemed as if it were nothing more than a slight breeze.

We had already been flying around for about an hour or so when we touched down on the second of the four islands, landing right beside a cave entrance. These islands were rocky. No plants, trees, or anything green on them. There were a few colonies of crabby running around, and some fish pokemon in the water, but besides that the island was dead.

_"I don't understand."_ Articuno said as we climbed off of her.

"Pi?" Pichu asked as we turned to face her.

"Yeah, what is it?"

_"Lugia…" _She said._ "Lugia isn't here. I don't feel his presence anywhere."_

"Well, maybe he moved on." I said, looking around at the barren rocks. "This place is very deprived of life."

_"That only shows how long he has gone."_ She said, looking around at some fallen tree trunks that had all but been washed apart by the waves. _"We 'legendary' pokemon have developed our powers to change the environment around us. As where I turn everything into ice, Lugia can use his psychic abilities to enhance the growth of living creatures and plants."_

I looked around, seeing several rocks that looked like some form of trees and some small looking roots that jetted out of the rocks. "So he can help bring life to a desolate place?" I asked. "How long do you think Lugia has been gone?"

_"If I were to estimate, five years or so."_

"Five years?" I asked, shocked. "I grew up in a forest, I know for a fact that it takes more than five years for the plant life to completely die off. A tree trunk alone could take ten years or so, given the size."

_"I shall put it to you simply."_ Articuno glanced at me. _"Lugia can use his psychic ability to enhance life. He can change a dead object into a live one by using the objects own makeup." _She then turned her head and pointed to a rock that was shaped like a tree. _"For instance, that tree came from a rock, and so since he left, taking his powers with him-"_

"Then they returned to nothing more than rocks, what they started as." I said, finishing the sentence.

_"Correct."_ For a while we were silent, looking around at the desolate place, then Articuno turned around, facing the cave.

"What's wrong?" I asked as Pichu climbed up on my shoulder, hiding behind my head.

_"Someone is here."_ She said, looking into the cave.

"What? Like Lugia?" I asked. "I thought you said he left?"

_"No, its not Lugia. It's… something else."_

***_-Scene Change-_***

Swampert hit the sandy beach on one of the islands, as Ricky hopped off and recalled him. "I swear I saw that bird land somewhere around here." He spat as he began to walk around the massive rock island. The wind began to whip and the sand on the beach began to twirl into a miniature tornado. "If Articuno was here, then there would be snow." He looked up to the sky and sparkling white little dots being pushed around by the strong winds, high above him. "It is here." Ricky said, looking ahead to see a cave.

He struggled to walk against the cold blistering wind as he fell into the dark cave, hitting his head hard on the rocky floor. "Ah, crap!" Ricky said, grabbing his head as he felt a warm stream of liquid catch on his hand. He pulled his hand in front of his face and saw that it was red, as red as his hair. "Blood."

"Hes'a here! Hes'a here!" A raspy voice echoed through the cave.

Ricky picked himself up as he looked down the darkening caverns. "Who's there?"

"Iiiiiiiiittttttttttt'ssssssss-" The voice called out as Ricky heard footsteps running at him. He tripped, falling backwards as a face of this old man with few teeth appeared in front of his face. "it's MMMEEEEEEE!" The man grinned as let out a long raspy and insane laugh. "HAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHA HAAHA HEHEHE HAHA HEEH!" He then paused and looked back at Ricky. "Oh, Rick, its you! Its you!"

"No." Ricky said, standing, and then looking at the man. He was nearly naked, with only a little bit of torn clothes coving his crotch. He also stunk to high heaven. "I'm Ricky. Rick was my father."

"Ooooohhh!" The man laughed again. "HAHAH! HEHE! Son of Rick, son of Rick!" He sung. "Son of Rick, oh, son of Rick! You never more the son of Rick!" He stopped his dancing and singing and then shushed. "SHHHH!" He spoke in a low voice. "I must take you to master. I must take you to master!" It then echoed to a scream. "I must take you to master! I MUST TAKE YOU TO MASTER!" He screamed as he skipped in a hunchbacked way into the darkness. "Follow me! Follow me! We must go to Master! We must go to Master! All will be told! All will be told when get to Master! Follow! Follow! Follow! FOLLOW!"

Ricky ran after the man. At the time he didn't know why, but if he knew of his father, Ricky wanted to know why and how. He followed down the dark hallways, listening to him rant and rave the entire time. Though it was dark there was still light. From what Ricky could tell there were crystals everywhere that reflected the light from outside all the way through the cave. Though it was dim, light was still there, so seeing wasn't impossible.

Ricky ran down the dim caverns, faster and faster, and then.

"STOP!" The man screamed, shoving his face in front of Ricky, scaring him and making me trip on his own feet. The man waited till Ricky stood, and then spoke again. "Around the next corner is Master." He spoke in a whisper. "Master said you would come, Master spoke of it. Master said you came looking for the other. Master knows, Master knows. Master knows all." He looked around the corner, then back to Ricky. "Would you like to see, Son of Rick? Would Son of Rick like to see? RC would like to see? No?"

"Who is RC?" Ricky asked.

"Your name is my name and my name is your name, RC. We are RC. We both are RC. RC we are, RC we are." He nodded, then turned to walk around the corner, Ricky following. They walked into this open room of the cave that had a hole in the top of the roof. Light was shining down and a cool breeze swept through this room. "Behold the Master." RC said as he kneeled beside a pokeball that was sitting on a rock in the middle of the room.

Ricky looked at it wide eyed as the man kneeled and bowed down beside it, chanting the whole time. "Is that a…" Ricky spoke to himself as he walked closer. "It is! That's a master-ball!"

"Yes! Yes!" RC chanted. "RC gave it to me, RC did! RC gave it to RC before I came to island!"

"Who gave it to you?" Ricky asked, not quite understanding the old man.

"Rick! Father of Ricky! Father of Ricky! RC! RC!" The old man yelled as he jumped up and down like a monkey. "Son of Rick, Son of Rick, oh Son of Rick! RC! RC! Same name, on RC!"

"Hmph." Ricky smiled. "So you worked for my father, huh?"

"Work I do! Work I do! RC works for Rick! RC works for Rick! RC works for RC!" The man then stopped jumping and looked at the master ball. "Master? Sure are you, Master?" RC then turned to look at Ricky. "Master says you will take him. Master says you will take him."

"That I will." Ricky said, stepping closer to the master ball. "Since you work for my father then you will give me that ball. I will make sure my father gets it."

"Master don't want you to take him." RC said as he picked up a Krabby that was walking along beside his foot. He opened his mouth, biting down hard on the Krabby's head with one of his teeth. He tore through the shell, cracking it open and eating the innards in one crunch. "Master don't want to go. Master don't want to go." He said louder and louder. "Master don't want to go! MASTER DON'T WANT TO GO!" RC took one of the claws of the Krabby and ran at Ricky.

"Pft." Ricky spat, side stepping the old man as he ran into the cave wall, knocking himself out. Ricky then walked over to the master ball sitting on the rock. He picked it up, and inspected it. The latch had been rusted shut, but it was still a master ball, never the less. "You must have been one of the stooges my father sent out year ago when he first started trying to find the birds." Ricky said. He kicked the left over Krabby to RC, who was still knocked out. "If you hadn't got lost my father still might be alive." Ricky then placed the master ball on his belt, grabbing another pokeball off as he heard the sound of a bird cry out. "That's it." He said, bringing out Dodrio. "It's that Articuno."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"What's wrong?" I asked as Pichu climbed up on my shoulder, hiding behind my head.

_"Someone is here."_ Articuno said, looking into the cave.

"What? Like Lugia?" I asked. "I thought you said he left?"

_"No, its not Lugia. It's… something else."_

"What is it?" I questioned again.

_"I don't know!"_ She screamed at me. _"Get me back in my pokeball, now!"_

"Alright." I said, trying to remember what pokeball was hers.

_"Hurry!"_ She screamed. _"They are close! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"_

"I'm trying!" I screamed back, finally finding hers. "Here!" I said, holding up her pokeball as a red light shot out at her. The light hit her, and sucked her back inside, but when she was gone I saw something behind where she was. I saw, someone, behind her in the cave. There stood Ricky, looking back at me with a surprised look on his face. He was riding on the back of Dodrio, which didn't seemed fazed at all, but Ricky was stunned.

"Well um…" I said, rubbing my head. "Hehe… Nice day for a swim, isn't it Ricky?" I asked, trying to play it off like nothing happened.

"Pi, Pi, Pi…" Pichu said with a smile has he rubbed his head as well, trying to play it cool too.

"Wha-" Ricky started to ask, but couldn't get it out. "Wha- What? Was th- that…"

"Well I've got a lotta places to go and gyms to beat so I guess I better be getting out of here!" I said as I started to run down the beach.

"WAIT!" Ricky called out.

"Ahhh…" I sighed as I stopped.

"Pi?" Pichu looked at me and then pointed ahead. "Pi! Pichu!"

"I know we can get away." I said. "But regardless where I go I know he's just going to find me. And the last thing I need him to do is tell everyone that I have an Articuno."

"Pi…" Pichu lowered his head in defeat as I turned around, facing Ricky as he rode up to us on Dodrio.

"Where did you get that thing?" Ricky asked in a way that I had never heard him speak. It was almost as if he was filled with anger and fear all at the same time.

"Here's the story, Ricky." I said scratching my head. "It was back in Kanto. I was taking a shortcut to Cinnabar when I came across the Sea Foam Islands. It was no big deal because I use to go there when I was a kid on vacation, but this time it was different. This time, I saw Team Rocket there." Ricky's eyes shot open and his jaw dropped. It was almost like he knew the story already. _Strange._ "Anyway," I continued. "Me and this girl that was there training snuck in and took some uniforms from the grunts. We watched as this man in a white mask tortured Articuno. I couldn't stand there and watch, so I took action." I watched as Ricky gritted his teeth, but I kept going on. _What's his problem?_ "Me and that man got into a really heated battle. He ended up using three pokemon on me."

"And what were they?" Ricky asked. I could see him getting madder and madder by the second, but I didn't know why,

"He used a Moltres, Zapdos, and a Blasiken." I said calmly. "After the battle the mountain caved in. I captured Articuno and raced out on my bike, while Arcanine took the girl out ahead of me. We were the only ones to make it out."

Ricky hopped off his Dodrio and then grabbed me by the shirt collar. "You little piece of…" He then stopped. He took a deep breath as he let go. "Sorry Kyle." He said, recalling his Dodrio. He then reached for another pokeball, releasing Swampert into the water as he climbed on his back. "I'll catch up to you later. I need some time to myself."

"Ricky." I said. "No one can know about Articuno. Got it?"

"Yeah… whatever." He kicked off, riding Swampert at full speed, quickly being out of sight.

"Well." I said, reaching for Articuno's pokeball. "I don't know what his deal is, but I guess that went okay." I released her, watching as her eyes opened. "Everything's cool now." I said with a smile.

_"No it's not."_ Articuno spoke. _"Your future has just changed."_

"I thought you said it's always in flux and you can never tell what will happen." I said with a chuckle.

_"I'm serious."_ She spoke sternly. _"Kyle, you must be careful of that child."_

"Who? Ricky?" I laughed. "That kid is nothing but hot air."

_"Heed my warning."_ She spoke. _"Please…"_

***_-Scene Change-_***

It took several hours and was already dark when we had reached Goldenrod on Articuno. We landed on the outskirts of town, beside the Ilex forest; somewhere no one would be able to see us. I recalled her as me and Pichu headed for the Pokecenter. It was only about a thirty-minute walk, so it wasn't that bad. When we got in I checked out a room, and went straight for bed.

"I'll check on the bike tomorrow." I said to Pichu as we hit the bed. I took out a pill, swallowing it and then laid back down. "Hopefully they will have the parts for it, if not, I don't know what we are going to do."

"Pi." Pichu said as he closed his eyes.

"Hm." I smiled. "Good night to you too, buddy."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Conner stumbled into the Pokecenter. It was late, almost 3am, and everything else in Olivine was already closed, with the exception of the bar that is, which he took advantage of. He had whiskey on his breath as he slid behind the counter, grabbing a key and walking down the hall. He went into his room, throwing his stuff on the bed as he brought out his computer. He then opened the videophone program and began dialing a number. It rang, and rang, and rang. Conner was quite annoyed when Richard finally picked up.

"Conner, sir?" Richard asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"What took you so long?" Conner barked.

"It's 3am, sir." Richard said under a yawn.

"Don't give me that crap!" Conner barked. "Now listen, I have a new assignment."

"What is it?"

"I will be transferring some pokemon to you labeled as NECS." Conner explained. "Instead of them going to the Mew Three Project I would like you to put them in the Neural Entopic Control System."

"You mean the brain washing project?" Richard asked.

"Yes, to put so a moron would understand it, I suppose you could call it that." Conner barked. "Why? Is there a problem with the Neural Entopic Control System?"

"No sir, its just…" Richard said is a hesitant way. "Its just that we are still working out some bugs."

"Is it operational?" Conner asked.

"Yes sir, but-"

"Then I want you to follow my orders and shut your face!" Conner barked. "I will also be transferring an item to you that I have recently picked up. When you get it I want you to break down the chemical makeup of the item and fuse it with the bio-fluids that Mew Three is forming in. Did I make myself clear, Richard?"

"Yes sir." Richard yawned. "Will that be all?"

"No." Conner said. "There is one last thing. Get cell number 057 ready for a guest. I will be delivering one to you shortly." Conner then shut the lid to his computer, cutting the conversation. He fell back in his bed as he looked up to the ceiling. "That stupid kid is going to pay for what he did." He then took off his white mask and threw it to the floor, spitting on it. "He is going to die!"


	19. Oh Where Oh Where has my Pichu Gone

**Chapter 18**

**Oh Where Oh Where has my Pichu Gone?**

I only slept a few hours that night, waking up at around 6am. Even though it was only a short four hours or so, I felt very refreshed. After my normal routine of showering, brushing my teeth, washing up Pichu, and the other things, I walked into the pokcenter lobby. I plopped myself down on the couch, turning on the TV as I heard Nurse Joy moving some things around behind the counter. The television kicked on, and was tuned onto the news.

"_-murder has occurred here in Olivine City." _The announcer spoke,halfway into her interview. _"Once again, I repeat, an attack on a police officer has happened, an attempted murder has occurred here in Olivine City. The police said that the young man grabbed a iron pipe and brutally bea-"_

"Ga!" I groaned as I changed the channel. "Why is it every time I turn on the TV in this region that all I ever hear is bad news?"

"Pi?" Pichu asked, looking at me from my shoulder.

"'_A death in a bar!', 'Dead person found in Cherrygrove', _Death death death." I said as I mimicked the newscasters. "I mean come on, I gave them a slight interview, and how come I haven't seen that yet?"

"Ha!" I heard the Joy laugh. "You call that an interview?"

"What?" I turned around to look at her. "Did you see it?"

"Yeah, they were broadcasting live." She laughed. "You stayed there for all of three seconds and then you were gone like a bullet."

"So?" I huffed, changing the channel to some cartoons. "They were just… crowding me, that's all."

"You know." She chuckled again. "For being a pokemon master you sure are camera shy. It's pretty funny if you think about it. The person that is most likely to be filmed is also so scared of a camera they can't even stay on the air for three seconds." She then looked at me. "And on top of that he came to Goldenrod two times! You'd figure that you would learn your lesson the first time you came here."

"I didn't come here to be on TV." I said as I stood up. Pichu ran from my shoulder and sat on the couch. He was watching the cartoons very contently; actually, I think he really liked this show. When I was at my Mom's house him and my little sister used to watch that show all the time. It had something to do with fat headed ninja that didn't speak and a little girl with a pigtail-buns haircut that always tried to kiss him. It was quite funny, I must admit, and Pichu thought so too. As I was walking away from him I heard him laugh in a little mousy way.

"Pi-he-he!" He giggled, rolling on the couch.

"So yeah." I said, taking the pokeball of my neck and laying it on the table. "My Arcanine got pretty beat up back in Olivine, I was wondering if you could take a look at him."

She took the pokeball and looked back at me. "What's wrong with him, Mr. Gray?"

"Well, the Nurse Joy there said all he needed was some bed rest, but what happened was he got into a really heated battle and broke his ribs."

"If the Joy there said that, then I'm sure that he is okay." She then took the pokeball over to the healing machine, placing the ball in there and waiting for the stats to show up on the monitor. "Looks like the only things that are wrong are the ribs." She said. "I can give him some medicine for the pain, but he should really be confided to his pokeball, or a bed, for the next two weeks or so."

"Would you mind if we go back in the back and let him out." I asked, pointing to the ER. "You know, to see how he's doing?"

"Sure." She said with a smile, and then stopped to look at Pichu who was sitting on the couch. She then pointed to him, asking me in a silent way if he would be okay.

I turned to face him. "Hey, Pichu." But he didn't even hear me. "Pichu!" And, once again, still didn't hear me. I walked over to him, standing in front of the TV. He then looked up and me and began to franticly move his arms.

"PI! Pi-pi-pi!" He screamed, motioning for me to move.

I laughed a little on the inside as I bent down to his level. "Me and Nurse Joy are going in the back to check on Arcanine. Okay?"

"Pi…" He said in an annoyed way, peeking over my shoulder at the TV.

"Alright." I said, standing up. "But if you need me I'll be back there."

"Pi, pi…"

_He's so not listening._

***_-Scene Change-_***

Only a few minutes had passed since Kyle left, and that was all it took for the episode to be over on the TV.

"Pi…" Pichu whined as he rolled over, having his belly up on the couch, still watching the TV upside down. _"It's over." _He whined again. Another show came on and Pichu stuck out his tongue. _"Yuck, I hate that show." _

"Do-Do-Do-Da-Do-Do-Do" The sound of an ice cream truck played as it rolled by the center.

"Pi!" Pichu said, jumping up and running to the window. He spied the truck stopping beside the center, giving out ice cream to some kids on their way to school. _"Ice cream!" _Pichu yelled as he bolted out the door.

He ran beside the back tire of the truck, looking up at the window as the man inside handed out three ice cream cones to the three kids. Pichu watched as the kids began to lick the ice cream, making some drip to the pavement. _"Ice cream."_ Pichu said as he began to drool. He frantically looked around at the truck for a way to get in, and spied a little door above the bumper of the truck._ "Ice Cream!"_ He squealed as he jumped up on the bumper, struggling to open the door. While he was working so hard on the door, the truck had already started to move, but Pichu didn't even notice, instead he kept hard at work trying to get into that tiny door.

Finally, after several stops, Pichu was able to get into the small compartment. He climbed into the small vent, and noticed right away something was strange. _"Brrrr…"_ He shivered. _"It's so cold."_ It was then that he looked up and saw about twenty boxes with pictures of ice cream cones on them. His face lit up as he dove into one of the open boxes. Inside he found about fifty little cups of vanilla ice cream, all in sizes that were just perfect for him. _"Yay!" _He screamed in a happy way, with a smile so big it went from cheek to cheek and enough feet kicking action to open up another few cups of ice cream.

Not wasting a moment of this he dug his little yellow face into the cup of ice cream, sloshing it everywhere as vanilla started to cake deep into his yellow fur.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Alright." Joy said as she closed the door behind us, leading me to an open area of the ER with a large table. "Release him." I did as she said and a bandaged up Arcanine sat on the floor beside me. He looked down at his injuries, and then back to me. _I guess this is really the first time he has seen the damage to his own body._

Arcanine then tried to stand up, but winced as he sat back down. "Hey," I said, putting a hand on his head. "You're okay boy. I know it hurts, but Nurse Joy is going to give you some medicine to make the pain go away. Okay, boy?"

"Arr..." He whined as he struggled to hop up on the table. He did, with a little help from me, but there wasn't much I could do when it came to lifting a 500 pound dog. He laid on the table as Nurse Joy brought out a needle.

She began to walk towards me with it, the pointy end facing me. "Hey! Whoa! Wait!" I backed up into the table as she walked closer and closer. "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving him a shot." She said as she looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… yeah…" I said, backing away as I took a deep breath. _Thank God, it's not me._ I then looked to Arcanine who was giving me a strange look. "Hey, its, um, okay, boy." I said as I put on a fake smile. _I can feel the blood running from my face. I know I must be pale as a sheet right now._

"Are you okay, Mr. Gray?" Joy asked, looking at me as she began to pull the hair back on Arcanine's side.

"Yeah, I'm-a… fine." I watched as she put an alcohol pad on the place the needle was going. I closed my eyes, not being able to watch what was going on.

"Alright, all done." Joy said. "And you can open your eyes, baby." She laughed as I opened my eyes, watching as she put the needle up. "Wow, you are a weird one. Not only is the Pokemon Master camera shy but he is also scared of needles! Just wait till the press hears about this!"

"Wait! What?" I jumped back, looking at her. "That is not true… I just… um… had the sun in my eyes, that's all."

Arcanine's ear twitched as he raised his head, looking at the door.

"What sun?" Joy barked. "We are in a ten story building, on the bottom floor with no windows!"

"There's windows all around this room!" I said, pointing at the walls that were all windows.

"Yeah, windows that show the hallway, and only the hallway!" She laughed.

We both stopped bickering when Arcanine stood up on the table. He looked at the door and jumped down, whimpering under the pain of the impact.

"Um, Joy?" I asked

"Yes, Mr. Gray?"

"How long does it take for that medicine to kick in?"

"About ten minuets or so." She said, looking at Arcanine as he bolted out the door. "That is, ten minutes or so from now."

We both stopped talking and ran after him. He was ramming himself into the walls, not able to keep his balance as he ran into the lobby. I watched as he bolted out the main door.

I ran trough the lobby in pursuit when I stopped and looked at the couch. "Pichu!" I said, as Joy stopped too. "Pichu! He's gone!"

"No time!" Joy barked. "Arcanine, he's-" but by the time we turned around, Arcanine was out of sight.

"Crap!" I said, looking outside. "Nice, now I'm missing two of my pokemon."

"Kyle! Listen!" Joy grabbed me. "Arcanine's medicine will kick in within the next ten minutes. When that happens he wont fele like he's hurt at all."

"Alright?"

"Alright?" She jumped back. "Maybe it's too early in the morning for you, but if he doesn't know he's hurt then he's going really hurt himself!"

"Oh man." I gasped. "You're right. So I need to find him fast."

"Got any ideas on how to do that within the next ten minutes?" Joy asked.

I gulped as a thought ran across my mind. "Yeah… I know one way to do it." I then looked over at the TV, which was still showing some cartoons.

"Well," Joy asked, looking at the TV. "What do we have to do?"

"I don't know about you." I said, looking back at the door again. "But it looks like I have to conquer one of my fears."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"_Phft." _Arcanine groaned as he watched Kyle look away. _"I don't know why he is scared of these things, they don't even hurt."_ The needled pierced his skin as Arcanine laid there, feeling the cold liquid run through his veins. _"Besides, I would much rather have a shot than four broken ribs."_ When the shot was over he began to relax. It was nice to be out of that pokeball. It gets cramped and claustrophobic in there.

Right when Arcanine began to relax he heard something, a voice, a voice that he had heard before. He raised up, making his ears point in the direction he heard the voice. _"Ice Cream!"_ He heard.

"_Was that, Pichu?" _He thought as he listened harder. He then heard Pichu's little footsteps running, the door open, and then silence. _"Oh no!" _Arcanine barked as he jumped off the table. He felt his ribs bend as he landed, making one go out of place and then back in. He winced, but shook off the pain as he ran through the door. He made his way into the lobby, losing his balance and running into the walls. _"Man."_ He groaned. _"These ribs sure make it hard to keep my balance."_ He then ran into the lobby. Pichu's scent was everywhere, but Pichu wasn't. _"Crap! I was right!"_ He bolted out the door, and watched as a truck began to drive off, with Pichu on the back of it.

"_Pichu!"_ Arcanine barked as he began to run again, this time he felt the same rib go out of place, and stay out. He tried to push the pain away, running faster to the truck, but it was almost as if the truck started to drive faster every time Arcanine got closer to it. He must have ran for a solid two minutes before falling to the ground beside some alley, gasping and groaning. _"God, it hurts."_ He gasped. _"I'm sorry, Kyle. I'm sorry."_

As Arcanine laid outside of the dark ally, six red eyes began to glow from the other end in the dark.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Well, another ice cream, another dollar." Jerry said as he opened the door from the freezer to the driver side of the ice cream truck. "Yep! You sure can't beat those kids, man, what a profit." He then looked in the rearview mirror, something was following him, something big and red, no, orange. He squinted his eyes and saw that it was a massive dog, an Arcanine, with white clothes all over it, like rags, dangling down to the ground. "Whoa, that's a mangy dog." Jerry said as he began to speed up. But as he did, the dog picked up speed, stumbling and falling from time to time, struggling to keep up.

Jerry then picked up the speed, running the truck up to fifty miles an hour, but the dog was still there. "My gosh!" He said, watching as the dog tripped over a garbage can, flipping over and falling into an alley. "That dog's got rabies or something! I'd better call it in!" Jerry picked up the CB beside the radio. "Hey, come in, this is truck number 5."

"Crrt-" The radio cut in. "Yeah , we read ya. What's up?"

"You better call the cops or something." Jerry said. "I was just chased like six blocks by this Arcanine with rabies, or something. I just shook him at 9th street."

"Did you say an Arcanine?" They guy asked.

"Yeah, why?" Jerry answered. "Do you all know something."

"Well, the cops just made a call out saying that three Arcanines just escaped from the pound and are considered to be dangerous. They told us to call it in if any of our guys saw them."

"Well call it in! Cause that thing was huge!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Yes." Nurse Joy said as I sat behind her in a chair. She was on the videophone, and I could see some people on the other end as they peeked over her shoulder at me. "Yes, that's him right behind me."

"Hey, kid!" The person on the phone motioned me. "Come closer so I can see you." I did and I saw him gasp. "Holy Miltank! It really is _the _Kyle Gray!"

_Why do people keep calling me that?_

"So will you send some video people over here right away?" Joy pleaded. "His pokemon are lost and we think this is the only way we can find them."

"Yes ma'am!" They guy spoke as he put on his 'Channel 22 News' cap. "We will be right up there. Tell him not to move."

The video clicked off as Joy turned to face me. "They will be here in a few minutes." She said, taking a deep breath. "I hope that it's enough time to help your pokemon."

"Yeah… me too…" _Darnit, Pichu. This is a real fine mess you got us all into._

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Arrr." The voice chuckled from the dark alley. _"Well, Boss, looky what we have here."_

"_Yeah! Looky."_ Another voice said. Arcanine turned to face down the alley, looking at the six red eyes that were glowing in the dark. As they got closer, so did the sound of the voices. _"Yeah! That guy looks even bigger than you, Boss."_

"_You better put him in his place before he starts to get any ideas."_

"_Now hang on boys."_ A new voice spoke as the eyes came into the light. This time, the one that was talking was the pair of red eyes in the middle of the other two dogs. _"This guy may just be one of us."_ There were three Arcanines standing there looking down at Arcanine.

Arcanine looked up at them and then somewhat chuckled. They were scrawny, and very weak on top of that. Even in his beat up condition he knew he could still take them, or thought so, anyway. But, nevertheless he didn't have time for that; he needed to get to Pichu. _"Leave me alone."_ Arcanine spat as he struggled to stand.

"_Hey now, I wouldn't back talk Boss, aint that right, Cody?"_ The medium size arcanine said as he walked in front of Arcanine.

"_Yeah, Rosco's right." _The dumb and smaller Arcanine said, as he stood beside Rosco. _"If you mess with Boss, you're going to get burned!"_

"_I'd like to see you mutts try."_ Arcanine growled as he snorted embers out on Rosco's and Cody's feet. The pups jumped back as the hair on their feet began to burn off, showing burnt skin underneath.

"_Ahh!"_ They both wimpered. _"You! You! You'll pay for that!"_

"_Really?"_ Arcanine laughed as he stood up. _"And who is going to stop me? You two?"_

"_No. I will."_ Boss said as he stepped forward, looking up at Arcanine. They were almost the same height, but Arcanine was still just a little bit bigger. _"You can call me Boss."_ He spoke. _"I own these streets, pounds, and the police dogs. There is not Arcanine that can take me down."_

"_Like that intimidates me."_ Arcanine said as he began to walk off.

Boss, seeing that Arcanine was leaving, used Extreme Speed, cutting him off. _"So that doesn't do anything for you?"_ Boss asked. _"Well fine, how about we give you a little demonstration!"_

Cody, Rosco and Boss all jumped back about ten feet or so from Arcanine. They let out a howl as they sucked in some air, and blew out a three combination of Flamethrower. The flames spun together and hit Arcanine hard, instantly burning his bandages off, but it did little to no damage to Arcanine, him with his Flash Fire ability.

When the attack was over Arcanine opened his eyes and looked at the trio of Arcanine, who were backing away with a scared look on their faces. _"If you mutts are done…" _Arcanine began to speak, but as he did the sky turned from a sunny day, to a black rainy one. A cloudburst erupted and rain started to fall. The trio began to whimper and whine as they ran for cover. _"Phft."_ Arcanine chuckled as he began to regain his strength. _"I guess all that training in water really helped. But I still wonder where that cloudburst came from?" _He shook off the thoughts as he felt his strength return. _"No time to worry about that, Pichu needs me!" _

Arcanine bolted from the ally and back onto the street. There he saw newscasters and people everywhere. They began to point and shout at Arcanine. _"Agh…"_ Arcanine groaned. _"Great, just what I need, people trying to block my way."_ He put his nose to the air and began to sniff out Pichu, but there was nothing. He ran down the street that he thought he saw the truck go, smelling everywhere franticly.

People were littering the streets, screaming and shouting at Arcanine as he ran by. Amazingly he felt a lot better, almost like his ribs were completely healed. So, he kicked in Extreme Speed, racing down every street he came across, until he finally found the same truck he as seen before.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Aright, we are going live." The camera operator said as he began to hold up his hand for the count down. Lights and cameras were all over the Pokemon Center, as well as people. Everyone wanted to get in the shot behind me, wanted me to give out autographs or takes pictures with them, and some even wanted me to kiss their pokemon! _Man, that's weird._

The newscaster lady put on her last bit of makeup as the cameraman started to count down. "Live, in 5, 4, 3, 2…"

"Good morning Goldenrod!" She started off. "This is Cindy here, live, at the Pokemon Center of our very own town, with an important message from a very important person, the world famous, Pokemon Master, Kyle Gray! Tell us, Mr. Gray." Cindy said as she handed the microphone to me. "What is it like being a Pokemon Master?"

I looked at her oddly, wondering, _'What the heck does that have to do with anything?' _I then took the microphone out of her hand, looking back at her. "What does it feel like to be a newscaster?" I said in a rude way, shaking my head and looking back at the camera. "People of Goldenrod, I am Kyle Gray, Pokemon Master and visitor to your lovely town…"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Buck and Jed were sitting at a bar with the rest of the bike gang. They were all drunk and pretty mad about that Kyle. Not only did him and that other kid kick their butts, they blew up their bikes. They also set it up so it looked like Buck and his posse were drunk and beat themselves up, as well as trashed their own bikes. As soon as they paid off their fine they headed straight for Goldenrod. They needed new bikes and fast, and Goldenrod was the closest place.

Buck downed another beer as he began to watch the TV. The same clip had been playing all morning, it was so boring, but at least it kept his time. When the clip changed, however, he almost spit out his beer. He screamed to the other members of the gang. "Hey! Look! Guys! Look!" Buck pointed to the screen as they saw a newscaster began to speak, and Kyle Gray sat behind her.

"This is Cindy here, live, at the Pokemon Center of our very own town, with an important message from a very important person, the world famous, Pokemon Master, Kyle Gray! Tell us, Mr. Gray." Cindy said as she handed the microphone to Kyle. "What is it like being a Pokemon Master?"

"What does it feel like to be a news caster?" Kyle smarted back, shaking his head and looking back at the camera. "People of Goldenrod, I am Kyle Gray, Pokemon Master and visitor to your lovely town. Two of my pokemon have gone missing, and one, my Arcanine, is in really bad shape, I'm not even sure he can walk. My Pichu is also very small and young, I have no idea what he has gotten into but I need the help of all the citizens of Goldenrod. Will you please help me find my missing pokemon?" Kyle then paused. "I will also have a reward out." He said. "$10,000 to whoever can bring me back both pokemon in tact."

"Boys!" Buck said as he stood up, almost stumbling. "We're going to go get us an Arcanine."

"What? You want the reward?" Jed asked.

"No, you idiot!" Buck barked. "His Arcanine and Pichu are what beat us before, they are probably his most powerful ones. We're going to catch those, and we are going to use them. And it'll be easy because that Arcanine is already pretty banged up." Buck grinned as Stan ran up behind him.

"You got a plan, Buck?" Stan asked.

"Yeah, I sure do." Buck grinned as he grabbed a pokeball of Stan's belt. He took it outside, releasing it to show a Poliwhirl. "Hey, Paul." He said, looking down at the Poliwhirl. "Use your Rain Dance." Buck said in a laugh as the Paul began to dance around, making clouds stir. Lightning began to strike as the rain poured down in Goldenrod.

"Nice plan!" Stan said as he recalled Paul. "Using Rain Dance to weaken the dog before we catch him."

"That's why I'm the leader." Buck said as he brought out the item holder in his pocket. "Lets ride boys." He threw the item holder out, releasing a bicycle that he had bought from the store in Olivine. It was pink with tassels and a basket.

"Buck…" Jed complained. "Do we have to?"

"Yes!" Buck snapped. "We have to! How are we suppose to be a bike gang if we don't have bikes?"

"But…" Jed said as they all brought out their pink bicycles with tassels and baskets. "They look so… so…"

"Shut up!" Buck screamed. "It was all we could afford and you know it! Besides, after we get those two pokemon we can hold them for ransom and get a lot more than 10 grand out of him."

"Hey, good thinking!" Jed said as they all hopped on their bikes.

"Now! Lets get that Arcanine!" Buck yelled, leading they way as they drove off on their pink bicycles, down the road. Jed, being in the middle of the group, tooted the little horn that was on his bike. "And cut that out!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Arcanine ran up to the truck, seeing that it was parked outside of a dairy store, or something. The driver door was left open and there was no one inside. _"Good."_ He said, looking around the truck for a good way to get in. The driver's door was much too small for him to fit in, and he was relived to find a large door on the back, with a smaller door in the bottom corner. _"The same door I saw Pichu try to get into."_

Arcanine jumped up on the bumper of the truck, latching his teeth on the handle of the large metal door. He gave it a good hard yank, pulling the leaver down as it swung open. Inside the truck were boxes, boxes everywhere, but no Pichu. Arcanine put his nose in the air and smelled. _"His scent is everywhere in here."_ He barked. _"Pichu! Hey, Pichu! Come on out, kid."_

"_Ahhhhaarrrggg…"_ Arcanine heard a low groan coming from an open box that was on the floor of the truck freezer.

He jumped up in the truck, making it shift weight from the front to the back, as well as making the box with Pichu in it slide to Arcanine's feet. Inside he saw what looked like a very fat, white, Pichu. _"Pichu?"_ He asked. _"Is that you?"_

"_Ahhhhhaararrgg…"_ He groaned as he rubbed his belly. _"Too… much… ice cream… Ahhhhhahhaarrrggg…"_

"_Hmph."_ Arcanine snorted as he picked the vanilla stained rat up in his teeth, throwing him on his back as he hopped out of the truck, making the front-end slam onto the ground. _"That's what you get for running off like that, kid."_ Arcanine scolded. _"You had me and Kyle worried sick about you."_

"_Arrgggnnn… Head… Cold… Freeze… Arrrrgggnnnhhh…"_

"_Oh get over it."_ Arcanine said as turned around. _"I'm not very happy with you right now."_ Arcanine began to walk out of the driveway where the truck was parked. Rain was still falling, washing some of the vanilla off of Pichu, making it drip onto Arcanine's thick orange fur. _"Alright," _He said to Pichu. _"You'll have to hang on, I'm going to go pretty fast."_ He took a bow, getting into position for an Extreme Speed when he heard something. He turned to look down the street as he saw five guys on bicycles ride up to him.

Arcanine watched as the fat one jumped off and pointed at him. "That's the one, guys! I know it! I remember those eyes anywhere!"

"_Yeah, well I remember your stench."_ Arcanine huffed as he began to turn away. _"I can't believe I wasted time to let these fools ride up on us."_

"Oh no you don't!" Buck said as he threw out his Weezing, which floated in front of Arcanine. "You're not going to get away from us this time!"

The rain was coming down hard now as Arcanine stared up the Weezing, it was the same one he fought with back on Cycling Road in Kanto. _"Get out of my way."_ He barked. _"You know I can make quick work of you, so just back off now."_

"_-Orry…" _The Weezing coughed out. _"I can't do that. Buck wants you."_

"_You're making a grave mistake." _Arcanine growled.

"Weezing!" Buck yelled. "Poison Gas! Now!"

Weezing let out a stream of gas at Arcanine, who dodged it with ease. Pichu began to fall from his back, but he was able to nudge him back on his shoulder with his nose. Arcanine turned back to the battle, letting out a Flamethrower that hit the gas, igniting it on contact, which in return, caused Weezing to go up in flames.

"Weeee-Zzziiiinng!" It called out as Buck recalled it. He then looked back to the rest of the crew. "Well?" He screamed. "Throw um' all out! I want that thing, now!"

"Yes, sir!" They all said in unison as they threw out their pokeballs.

"_Great. More trash to clean up."_ Arcanine said as he saw a Crobat, Raticate, Fearow, Electrode, Arbok and a Poliwhirl appear all around him.

"_Give up now. Rrrraaa!"_ The Fearow squawked.

"_Yeah, hhhhh, just give up!" _ The Raticate chimed in.

"_Yeaaaaah. Um!"_ The Poliwhirl said as he puffed out his gut, putting his hands on his hips.

"Now!" All the bikers screamed. "Attack!"

In unison all the pokemon flew, and ran at Arcanine, with the exception of Poliwhirl, who stood back and began to take in a deep breath. Arcanine let out a loud roar as he covered himself in a mass of fire and flames. Soon, all that was seen in the area he was at was a large shield of fire. All the pokemon flew into it, trying to attack, but they were all pushed off. Then, Poliwhirl let out a massive stream of water. The Hydro Pump attack shot right for the ball of fire, making the fire extinguish on impact, but also making a mask of mist cover over everything.

Poliwhirl felt as the ground beneath him gave way, making him fall down into a hole. He opened his eyes, seeing two bright red glowing eyes looking back at him in the darkness of the hole. _"Wait! Wait!"_ He pleaded. _"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"_

"_Too late for that."_ Arcanine huffed as the tunnel he had dug was soon engulfed in flames, burying Poliwhirl and knocking him out instantly.

The ground above was also set ablaze. Arcanine had carefully dug a hole under everyone of the pokemon that were on the surface; attacking the fire ball diversion he had set up.

Arcanine leaped out of the hole, Pichu still on his back. Above him he saw that the only two pokemon that were still able to fight were in the air. Fearow and Crobat.

"Get it!" The men screamed as the two flew at Arcanine.

"Yeah!" One of the bikers called out. "Use your Bite attack Crobat!"

Arcanine stood still, waiting for them to get close enough. When they were within striking range Crobat went for a bite around the neck, as Fearow went for a Wing Attack to the ribs, but neither of the attacks succeeded. Arcanine quickly seized the small window of opportunity to catch Crobat in his mouth, and pin Fearow down to the ground with a paw on its wing. Arcanine then turned his head, having his Crobat filled mouth facing Fearow as he let out a massive Fire Blast. Both pokemon were sizzled, and fell to the ground knocked out.

Arcanine turned to look at the scared men as they started to hop back on their pink bikes.

"Buck!" Jed called out. "Sorry man! But sometimes you gotta know, when to go, go, go!" They all recalled their pokemon as they drove off on their pink little bicycles.

"_Well that was easy."_ Arcanine said as he looked back to Pichu, who was still groaning. He turned to walk away, heading back to the Pokecenter when the rain suddenly stopped. _"Well, I guess that's a good sign."_

***_-Scene Change-_***

"I found your Pokemon!" One man said as he ran up to me in the Pokecenter. The place was crowded with people, all wanting the reward money, _and man, people were really getting desperate. _The man then held out a Meowth that was painted orange with black stripes. "See look! It's your Arcanine! And here's your Pichu!" He then held up a block of cheese that was carved to look like a … mutated Pikachu.

I stared at the man, with a dumbfounded look on my face as the 'Arcanine' in his arms began to Meow. "Meeeee-outh!" It then bent over and took a bite out of the cheese 'Pichu', taking out part of its ear.

"Shhhh, boy." The man said stroking its head. "Isn't he funny?"

I kept staring at the man with a confused look before I spoke. "Are you stupid?"

"Hooowwwwwoooo!" I heard a loud howl as everyone in the center went quiet. In walked Arcanine, with a bloated Pichu on his back. Almost immediately everyone jumped Arcanine, trying to wrap their arms around him.

"Look Mr. Gray! I caught him! I caught him!"

"No you didn't! I did, Mr. Gray!"

"Well I caught the white one!" Another guy said as he grabbed Pichu off Arcanine's back. Arcanine snarled his teeth and began snapping at the people, which caused them to back off and drop Pichu. Arcanine then caught Pichu in his mouth as he walked up to me, placing him in my hands.

"Oh, God." I said as I held the white rat up in my arms. "My gosh! What did you get into? You're all… sticky… and… you smell like, vanilla!"

"Piiii…" Pichu groaned through his fat cheeks on his face.

Arcanine just snorted as he pushed his nose against the pokeball on my necklace, sucking him back inside. When he vanished I saw people all over the center began to jump and scream, running at me.

"You saw! I saved him! I saved him!"

"Give me my money!"

"I get the money!"

"No! I do!"

"Nu-huh! Me!"

Soon the bickering people turned into a mob of fist punching, hair pulling and kicking. I, seeing a opportunity, took Pichu and ran back in the ER, locking the door behind me.

"So you had the same idea I did?" The Joy said as she walked up beside me. We both looked out at the people, punching and kicking each other over something so stupid as money. "So who are you going to give the money to?"

"Nobody." I said, picking Pichu up and looking him over. _God, he's so fat!_

"Nobody?" Joy jumped back. "There are people out there going to kill each other over ten thousand dollars, that you promised, on live TV, and you're not going to give it to anybody?"

"Nope." I said, handing Pichu to her. "From what I saw, Arcanine got Pichu and they came back on their own. If anyone should get the prize money it should be Arcanine." I smiled. "And since I am his trainer, I suppose that money is automatically redirected to me." I then pointed to Pichu. "Hey, tell me what you think, will he be okay?"

"Yeah… I suppose." She said, looking him over. "I have seen this same thing before… several times, actually."

"Really?" I asked. "Is it common?"

"Among children." She chuckled. "Your little Pichu will be just fine. He just ate a little too much ice cream, that's all."

"How do you know that, Joy?"

"The vanilla ice cream in his fur is one good indication." She said, as she licked her fingers after handing the bloated little mouse back to me. "And people come in all the time when their kids give their pokemon pets a whole gallon of ice cream."

"You're telling me Pichu ate a whole gallon!" I jumped.

"Umm… no…" Joy said looking at him. "More like five… or six."

My jaw dropped as I picked the chunk up in front of me. "That's it, bud, you're going on a diet as soon as you're better."

"Piii…" He groaned.

Joy reached up, yanking the Pokeball off my necklace. "Hey!" I said, holding Pichu back in my arms as I ran over to her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm checking on Arcanine." She said calmly, placing his pokeball in a machine. We waited patently as some graphs and charts pulled up on the monitor overhead. "Oh no… Oh no… No, no no."

"What is it, Joy?" I asked, looking at the graphs, but none of it made any since to me.

"Well, it looks like your Arcanine did a lot of damage to itself."

"How so?"

"Well, for starters, he broke all four of his healing ribs again, as well as an additional one." She then read the charts more, and continued. "He also broke part of his front paw, pulled a few muscles, shoulder looks dislocated…"

"Man… that's a lot." I said, looking at his pokeball.

"He needs to stay here." Joy turned to look at me. "For at least a day… maybe more."

"Are you kidding?" I asked, pointing to the little window in the door. "If those people know Arcanine is here they would steal him in a heartbeat."

"Well, I'm sorry, but he does need medical help. Badly." Joy then turned to look at the graphs on the monitor again. "It looks like I can have him all bandaged up in an hour or so. If you can keep them busy until then, it will give me enough time to put Arcanine back in his pokeball and hide him out of sight. Then we can stage a diversion saying that you left town, or something."

I began to think as I heard glass breaking in the lobby. _Man, they would really kill each other over this. I would hate to pay the bill on fixing thi..._ "That's it! I got it!"

"Got what?" Joy asked turning to face me again.

"Joy, do you have a cell phone?" I asked.

"Yeah." She looked at me with a face of uncertainty as she reached into her pocket, taking out a pink flip phone and handing it to me. "Why? What's up?"

"I might have a friend that can help us out." I smiled as I took the phone, flipping it open and began dialing a number.

"Hey, don't be too long, I don't have many minutes left on that phone."

It rang, and rang, and rang some more, before going to an answering machine. "Crap. Of course, he's not at his house." I closed the phone, cutting the call off as I opened it up again, dialing another number. It rang, and rang, and, to my astonishment, he finally picked up.

"Hello?" He asked, almost as if he just woke up.

"Bill! It's me, Kyle!" I said, happy as could be that I could get in touch with him.

"Kyle… its like…" There was a pause before he continued. "It's like 7 am. Why do you always call me so early?"

"Bill there is no time for this!" I explained. "Do you still have family in Goldenrod?"

"Well, yeah. But I'm-"

"Great!" I spoke cutting him off as I looked behind me. People were beginning to try to unlock the door leading into the ER, frantically ramming it. I ran to the corner of the room, opening a door to the back as I ran further into the back of the center, Pichu still in my arm. "Listen, Bill. There are about 100 people trying to rip my arms off and steal my pokemon. I need you to get one of your family members to run down to the pokecenter in Goldenrod, and tell the group of people they saw me running for Ilex forest."

"Um… okay, but-"

"No buts to it!" I shouted. "Bill! They are going to kill me!"

"Okay, man. I'll see what I can do." The phone then cut off as I sat down in the hallway beside a window. I could see that I was on the third floor, and remembered that the center was sitting on a hill, so the first floor was actually the third when you went to the back. I let out a sigh as Pichu opened his eyes, looking up at me.

"Piiii…"

"Oh, hush." I said to him in a scolding way. "All of this is because of your little sweet tooth you have. If you hadn't ran after some ice cream this never would have happened."

It was only a few minutes later when I heard all the bickering and fighting from down the hall stop. The center was quiet, and calm. I began to walk back the way I came, seeing Nurse Joy unlocking the doors. "Hey." I said, walking up behind her. "Did it work?"

"Yeah." She said with a smile as she struggled with the keys. "I don't know what you did, but it got rid of them."

The door swung open, and standing in front of the counter with his hands behind his head stood my dear friend. His light brown hair was still as scraggly as I remembered, and, also as I remembered, his choice of clothes hadn't changed much either. He was wearing a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and cacki pants to go along with it. He also had a tie, which was tan, with some brown swatches on it, as well as not tied straight, hanging loose around the not fully buttoned neck of his shirt.

"Hey, bud." Bill said with a smile as I looked at him jaw dropped, surprised he was here. "Long time no see. Glad I can still get you out of a pinch every now and again."


	20. Whos Getting the Bill

**Chapter 19**

**Who's Getting the Bill?**

"Bill!" I said as we each gave each other a hug. "Gosh! Its been like, what, a year?"

"Yeah, I know." He said as he slapped me on the shoulder. "I was so surprised when you called me I couldn't even tie my tie!" He laughed. "Who would have thought that I would be able to see you, here, of all places?"

We both laughed as I turned to see Nurse Joy, who was looking at us jaw dropped.

"Hey." I chuckled, looking at her. "What's up? Haven't you met Bill before?""

"N-no-" She stuttered out as she began to laugh. "Probably the two most famous people in Kanto are here in my center at the same time." She shook her head as she looked around the lobby. A broken glass table, shattered TV, and papers littered the floor. The place was a wreck. "Under any _Normal_ circumstance this would be a moment in the history books of Pokecenters. Having the Pokemon Master here as well as Bill, creator of the PC system." She began to laugh loudly as she also began to cry. "My gosh, I hate my luck. Why would this mob have to happen today?"

I looked around the room, seeing all the broken… junk, laying around. _Wow, and all this was because of me._ I looked down to my feet as I sighed. "Well, maybe I can do something to make your day better, Joy."

Both Bill and Joy looked at me as I walked over to the PC system, which was surprisingly still intact. _Being in the far corner of the room probably helped with that._ I typed in my information as I retrieved some money out of my account. I then logged out and walked back over to Joy. "I'm sorry about the damages I caused." I said as I laid the ten thousand dollars in her hand. "You were really the one that deserves the prize money. Without you I might lose Arcanine, forever." I gave her a wave as me and Bill turned to walk out. "Do me a favor and tell everyone that I left and kept the prize money! I went to Azalea, if anyone asked!"

"Oh… okay… thanks." Joy said as we walked out of the shattered glass doors and into the street.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"So." Bill said as we walked out into the streets. The place was deserted, unlike only a few minutes ago, when it was crowded with mobs of people. "What kind of a mess did you get into now?"

"This little guy." I said, holding Pichu up in the air. "Turns out this guy has a sweet tooth. He ran off to get some ice cream, scared Arcanine to chase after him, and then they were both lost. I sent out a live TV broadcast saying that I would give out ten thousand dollars in reward money to the person that would bring them back to me."

"I see." Bill said. "And that turned into a mob that wanted nothing but money."

"Exactly." I said, holding Pichu back in my arms.

"So, how did you get them back?" Bill questioned, looking around to make sure no one was on the street we were walking on. "I noticed that you gave that money to Nurse Joy to cover the damage, and you had me tell them you went to Ilex forest, so that means that you didn't give out the prize money, right?"

"Yeah. Turns out they returned on their own." I said as I looked back to Bill. "By the way Bill, why are you here in Goldenrod?"

"Well, unlike you, I enjoy visiting my family." He smiled as he walked in front of me. "Of course I can't blame you for not wanting to go back, but I hear that your mom is worried about you."

"Pfft." I spat. "She doesn't worry about me, she only wants my pokemon for her experiments."

"Pokemon?" Bill turned to look at me. "Is that who you have been transporting your pokemon too?"

"Yeah." I answered, shoving my hand into my pocket." She told me that she wouldn't allow me to go on my journeys unless I let her run some tests on my pokemon at will. Wait..." I looked at Bill. "How did you know I was sending pokemon back and forth?"

"Well, its more forth then back, but hey, come on." Bill said with a smile as he put his hands up defensively. "I'm just looking out for my bud. On top of that I monitor everyone's transitions, I am the keeper of the PC system after all."

"Yeah, I suppose."

I noticed Bill turn and look around uneasy for a little bit before whispering to me in a low voice. "So tell me. Is it true?"

"Is what true?" I asked.

"You know… the…" He stopped walking as he pulled me into an alley. "Is it true about the pokmon specimen Professor Oak has on disk?"

"Oh." My eyes opened wide as I finally realized what he was talking about. "Yeah, its true."

"Can I see it?" Bill asked in a boyish grin, almost like he just got a new chemistry set, or something. "Please, can I?"

"Maybe later." I said, peering around the corner. "But first things first, I need a disguise or something."

"Well come back to my grandparents place." Bill said as he pointed his thumb up the road. "It's not that far away. I'll get Gram to give you a haircut while I get you some clothes." He then looked me over, looking up and down and around my shoulders too. "You look like you could fit in some of my shirts."

"Haircut, huh?" I asked, running my hand through my hair. _It was getting pretty long, as well as hot. I had been debating on rather or not to let Kabutops cut it, but had always decided against it, knowing how 'special' he was._ "Alright, but lets get going, I don't think those people will stay gone for long."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Bill was right; his grandparent's house wasn't very far away, and with a little explaining they were happy to help me._ All but one of my grandparents died when I was very young, so I always considered them to be my grandparents. They were always happy to see me, and always treated me as their own. Though I hadn't seen them in years, that is, ever since they moved to Goldenrod about five years ago. But today, it seemed as if they had never left, and it was like we were right back in Cerulean, though I knew we wasn't._

"So what brings you to Goldenrod, sweetie?" Gram asked as she pulled a blanket over my shoulders. I was sitting in a chair as Pa-Paw was washing that fat Pichu in a sink. Gram then brought out some scissors as she started to snip away at my over grown rat-nest of a head.

"Well…" I paused, thinking about the consequences of saying _'Oh yeah, I drive a motorcycle and gang of thugs tried to beat me up and screw up my bike!' Yeah, that wouldn't go over well._ "You know, being a trainer takes you many different places. I was actually just passing through."

"So have you already fought the gym here?" Gram asked, snipping and snipping as I watched locks of hair fall to the floor.

"Yeah, I fought her last month, I think last month anyway."

"That poor girl." Gram picked up a comb as she began to run it through my hair, picking up some of it as she snipped more. "It seems like every time she loses she ends up crying her eyes out to her father. They sure don't make gym leaders like they used to."

"Meee-outh." A Meowth purred as it rubbed up on my feet. It was an older looking one with gray hair instead of the brown it once had. It coin was still shiny, and I would recognize this silly cat anywhere. "Wow!" I said, looking at the cat as she jumped up in my lap. "You all still have Smokey?"

"Of course we do." Gram smiled as she ruffled up my hair, shaking all the loose stragglers out and onto the floor. "You don't think we would go anywhere without our cute little Smokey baby, do you?" She then reached her hand down, scratching Smokey under the chin as she purred happily.

"Okay, Gram!" Bill said as he ran down the stairs that was connected to the hallway beside the open room we were in. "I got his clothes ready, are you all done yet?"

"We just finished, dear." Gram said as she took the towel and gave it a good shake, getting all the hairs off.

I stood up, picking Smokey up and putting her back on the ground as Pa-Paw came into the room from the kitchen. "My, my. This little guy was a mess!" He said, handing me the fat Pichu, who was yellow once more. I held him in my arms, almost like a baby that hadn't lost its baby fat yet.

Pichu looked up at me. "Pi!" Pichu called as he struggled to climb up my arm, but slid right back down into the corner of it where I was holding him. "Pii…"

"Oh, here." I said, placing him on my shoulder. "That's what you get for being a little piggy, now you're too big to climb up on my shoulder."

"But he's oh so cute!" Gram said, pinching Pichus fat cheeks. "I'm glad to see that you are fattenin' up your pokemon."

"Ahem." Bill said in a cough as he threw some clothes to me. "Here's some clothes, you can change in my room, and there is also a PC in there so you can put your old clothes up."

"Alright." I smiled as I headed up the stairs. "Thanks you all, for everything."

"Don't thank us yet." Pa-Paw said. "You're not out of town yet."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I went upstairs, locking the door behind me as I sat Pichu and the clothes on Bill's bed. This room reminded me so much of mine. Clutter everywhere. Papers, boxes, pokeballs, item holders, and dirty clothes strung about. It practically looked just like my old room at Mom's. _Perhaps that's one of the reasons why we always got along._

I began to slip out of my clothes as I saw Pichu digging through my bag. I watched as he pulled out his little leather jacket and struggled to put it on. He tried his hardest, but only ended up losing his balance and rolling off the bed backwards, hitting his head when he landed. He rolled over looking at his jacket in such a sad way. "Piiiii!" He began to cry.

"Oh, its okay bud." I said, picking him up and placing him on the bed. "You'll lose that weight and be back in that jacket before you know it."

"Pii…" He pouted as I went back to putting on my clothes.

I ran a hand through my hair as I looked at myself in a mirror that Bill had over his nightstand. My hair was short, really short, maybe just an inch long. _Wow, old people must really like short hair or something. I have never had my hair this short._ I focused my attention back on getting dressed. I held up the shirt, noticing it was a forest green, long sleeve, button up shirt. Along with that was a tie that was a lighter shade of green with some brown patches. The pants that Bill gave me were far too short in the pant legs for me, so I went to my PC and brought out my black denim jeans I had stored away.

I put on the jeans, tucking in my shirt as I put my black army style belt on. I wore my other black belt with my pokeballs on it overtop of my pants, drooping over my hip as the army belt held up my pants. _I don't know if wearing two belts like this looked cool, or stupid, but it's what I had to do._ I finished buttoning up the shirt, leaving the last two buttons or so undone so it would show off some skin. _I must say, I think I look pretty sexy in a button up shirt._ I then added the tie, tying it loose so it would droop down a little, making it more comfy.

"Hey, I look pretty good." I said as I looked at myself in the mirror. "But, I don't know, I still look like me." Hmm… I thought about this for a moment when I saw something that caught my eye. Laying on the dresser was a pair of sunglasses, not too big, but just big enough to cover over my own glasses. I put them on, looking myself over. "Oh yeah, that's it." I said with a smile. "Not even my own mother would recognize me." I started thinking about that, and then started laughing. "Maybe I should keep dressing like this then!"

I deposited the rest of my stuff in the PC, or in my book bag. I then walked up to Pichu, kneeling down to his level. "I'm sorry, bud, but I'm going to have to ask you to stay in my book bag."

"Pi?" He looked up at me in question.

"You know, just 'til we get out of the city." I smiled. "I don't want anyone to know that I'm still here." Pichu nodded and then slid inside my bag. _I'm sure he didn't mind. After all, whenever he gets sleepy he always crawls back there anyway and takes a nap._ I smiled as I headed out the door, going downstairs to see Bill, Paw-Paw and Gram all waiting on me. "Well, what do you think?" I asked, striking a cool pose.

"You look like a right, fine, boy!" Gram said with a happy smile.

"You can sure clean up, boy!" Pa-Paw agreed.

"Are those my shades?" Bill asked as he walked up to me, examining them.

"Hey now, don't worry." I said as I raised up my hands in defense. "I'll give them back to you, I swear."

"Okay, but you'd better not get a scratch on those." He smiled as he looked at me. "It was one of the souvenirs I got on my first trip over here five years ago."

"Not a prob." I said, giving him the thumbs up as we both walked out of the door. "Thanks for everything you guys! I owe you one!"

"No problem at all, Kyle." Gram said as she waved. "Come back and visit any time."

We walked out onto the streets, seeing few people, but still it was more than when we entered their house. It was about 8am, or so, which was more then likely the reason why there were more people out roaming around.

"So where too now?" Bill asked as we began to walk down the street, passing people who didn't give us a second look.

_That's good, they don't notice its me. _"Well, I would like to go to the bike shop here. Is it far away?"

"Its over there by the gym." Bill said as he pointed to the gym at the far side of the city. "But I don't think it opens until 10."

"Hmm. So we have two hours to kill, huh?" I asked, kicking a discarded can as we walked by a recycling bin.

"Seems like it." Bill smiled. "So, got any ideas on what to do for the next two hours? How about you showing me your pokemon? I would love to examine them."

"You mean, you'd like to examine one." I smiled. "Don't worry Bill, I'll let you see her, but not now. Maybe later on tonight, okay?"

"Her?" Bill asked. "I didn't read anything in Professor Oak's log about a gender."

I looked at him oddly. "Well yeah, everything has a gender, otherwise there wouldn't be anything alive."

"Not necessarily." Bill said as he put his finger up. "Though no one has ever captured an Articuno, or any other legendary pokemon for that matter, and had it examined, scientists all over the world have agreed that with the given information that legendary pokemon are asexual."

"asexual? As in they breed with themselves?"

"Yes." Bill said as he nodded. "So there would be no need for genders."

"That's not true." I said as I kept walking. "Legendary pokemon are no different then other pokemon. The only differences is that they are close to extinction because people use to capture them for their power, killing them when they were finished with them." I saw Bill turn to look at me, so I continued. "They can't live in our polluted world so they strive to find places that humans can not, or have not, ever touched."

"Hmm. I see." Bill said, thinking about the information I set forward on him. "So, how do you know all this?"

"Heh." I chuckled. "You're not going to believe this, but Articuno told me."

"What's hard to believe about that?" Bill asked. "Many trainers can communicate with their pokemon. I saw you and Pichu do it the entire time you were together."

"Pi!" Pichu yelled from my book bag.

"Keep it down back there!" I demanded, hoping that no one heard him. "No, what I mean is, she literally told me."

"As in, she has the ability to speak our language?"

"Not verbally, but yes." I paused. "She also told me that speaking through telekinesis was just an ability that most legendary pokemon obtained over time."

"Amazing." Bill pondered. "Would that infer that other pokemon that use telekinesis to speak, such as Lucario and Alikazam, have traces of legendary DNA in their chemical make up?"

I looked at him oddly, not exactly knowing what to say to that. "Well… um… I suppose that all pokemon had to originate from somewhere."

"Yes, but it has been the speculation of many scientists that pokemon of a certain nature might have originated from one specific pokemon, such as Mew." Bill put a finger to his chin as he spoke. "Their idea is that Mew was one of seven original pokemon, and from there they spread, reproduced, and changed into the pokemon we now see today. Ones of psychic and telekinesis abilities are believed to originate from Mew. Pokemon with grass abilities, from Shaymin, bird pokemon come from the legendary Lugia-"

_Lugia? Isn't that the pokemon Articuno said was at the Whirl Wind Islands?_ "Yeah, Bill." I said, cutting him off. "I think that's a load of crap."

He looked at me oddly. "Why do you say that?"

"Because Articuno said that Lugia left the Whirl Wind Islands about five years ago. If that story you told were true, then Lugia would not be around today. Rather, his kind would be bred out, and gone forever." I then looked back at him. "And if that were the case, how would we even know they existed at all? Its not like we have documentation of any of that. The legendary pokemon are just pokemon. That's it, nothing more. They are only given those stupid legends to go along with them because people know they are covered in mystery. What I think has happened is people began to spread rumors around when all the legendary pokemon started to die out, about them being some sort of God, or something. Overtime people began to manipulate the stories by word of mouth and that's how we get all of those stupid tags that go with the certain pokemon."

"You say that we have no proof to back up what we think," Bill snapped back. "But what about you? Do you have any proof?"

"Of course I do." I said, holding Articuno's pokeball in front of his face. "It's right here, and you can ask her anything you want. I guarantee that I'm right, because she's already told me everything I need to know." I then put the pokeball back on my belt. And after a long pause, I took deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry Bill, I got a little too into it."

"Hey, no prob, I did as well."

I stopped when we got to the pokecenter. The place was closed, all the lights shut off and a sign on the broken door that said, _'Closed for Repairs – Drop off in the box-'_ with an arrow pointing to a little pull down door on the wall.

I walked up to the center, stepping into the dark lobby through the broken glass door. A hard grip went on my shoulder as I saw Bill's hand on me. "What are you doing?" He asked. "The place is closed."

"Oh clam down." I said. "My Arcanine is in there and I'm going to go check on him." I smiled as I brushed his hand off. "Heh. Stay out here if you're scared."

"I'm not scared." Bill turned away. "I just prefer to follow directions when they are shown. The place is closed so without proper authorization entering would be considered 'breaking in', and I refuse to take part in anything related to a criminal act."

"There's no place to break in, the place is already broke." I said, pointing around at all the shattered glass. But Bill still didn't move, he just stood there, watching the streets fill back up with people. "Fine, stay here." I said, climbing the rest of the way in. "I'll be back in a few."

"Yeah, yeah."

I headed into the center. It was already pretty hard to see with all the lights out, but with the shades, man, it was close to impossible. I stumbled around, knocking a couple vases off of, something, making them fall to the floor and shatter. When I did I saw a bright light turn on, hitting my face as I put my hands up to block it. It was a flashlight, and it was blinding in the dark room.

"The center is closed!" Joy said sternly. "Please leave immediately."

"It's me!" I said, still shading my eyes from the light with my hands. _Hmm, I can't really say 'Its me, Kyle!', that would only stir up the people that were outside. I need to think of something so I wont give myself away. _"I'm the guy that left the Arcanine here." _Crap, that didn't help._ "You know, I had a Pichu." _My Gosh, that was even worse! _ "You last saw me with my friend, Bill?"

The flashlight then turned off as I heard footsteps come closer to me. The Nurse Joy put her face up to mine, looking at me. "Kyle, is that you?" She whispered.

"Yeah, its me." I said, glad she could read between the lines.

"Alright, follow me." She said, grabbing my hand as she lead me back to the ER. When we were inside she turned on the lights and pulled the curtains over the doors, blocking the light from going into the main lobby.

When I looked around the room I saw Arcanine laying on a table, belly side up, with monitors hooked all over him. IV's were running into his legs as a brace was put over his chest. A mask was over his nose and his mouth was being held shut by a strap. Both his foot, front shoulder, and ribs were all wrapped up tight, with splints in the wrapping to make them more stable.

I walked over to his side, stroking his fur, as he lied there unconscious. "He's in pretty bad shape." Joy started as she walked over to me. "As you know half of his ribs are broke, as well as a lot of his muscles are either torn or almost there." She looked over some of the monitors and charts as she continued. "I was able to get his shoulder back in place, as well as splint his paw and ribs. He will need at least three weeks without battle." She then took a deep breath. "He is stable now, but if you let him out of his pokeball you will have to make him sleep on his back. If he puts too much pressure on his ribs they could cave in, and rupture his organs."

I cringed at the thought of it. "I'm so sorry, boy." I said, stroking his fur. "I am so sorry."

"Also, don't let him run, jog, carry anything, and, well I guess it would be eaiser for me to say this. He is only allowed to walk occasionally, eat, and drink."

I sighed, looking to Joy. "Thank you so much, Joy. Without you, I don't know what would have happened to Arcanine."

"I do, and it's not pretty." She placed a hand on the massive dog. "But he's okay now, and you are free to take him." She then handed me an item holder with a pokecenter logo on it. "This is his medicine." She said. "Give it to him two times a day. It will help re-grow his bones faster but will also make him sleepy. They are to be taken with water, lots of water. And don't be surprised if they come into effect quickly."

"Joy, I've got a question." I said, digging though my pocket. "I asked the Nurse Joy about this in Olivine, but she never really gave me a straight answer." I pulled out the three rare candies and then continued. "I have these rare candies, I know they are illegal to have, but they are not illegal to use on your pokemon. I also know that they heal basic things in battle instantly. But, do you think that it could heal bones faster?"

"Hmm." She then took the three out of my hand. "That's a good question."

_Three?_ I put my hands back in my pocket, digging around for my fourth one, _Hmm, three. I wonder what happened to my fourth one? Eh, oh well, I bet I just lost it somewhere, probably when I was changing clothes over at Gram's._

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to try." Joy said, giving the three back to me. "That is, as long as you don't give them to him all at once. I would suggest waiting at least a week or two, then start giving them to him in smaller pieces. Break one up into four or five little chucks and give him one of the chunks a day. That would help him without expanding his body enough to damage it."

"Thank you, Joy." I said, taking the candies back, placing them in my pocket as I put the item holder on one of the hooks on my pokeball belt. "So, is it safe for me to recall him?" I asked, pointing to Arcanine.

"Yeah." She smiled as she helped me take all the equipment off of him. "Just don't forget to give him that medicine twice a day. I already gave him his daily amount today, so start him on it first thing tomorrow."

"I sure will." I smiled as we removed everything off of him. I held up his pokeball, sucking him back inside as I placed the ball back on my necklace. "Thanks again Joy, for everything."

"It's my job." She smiled. "Hey, and next time you come, give me a heads up so I will know to Kyle-proof everything before hand."

We both laughed as I waved and walked out of the center, once again stumbling over everything on my way through the lobby. Bill was still waiting outside, standing in his normal pose with one foot propped on the wall behind him with both hands behind his head.

"Well, how did everything go?" He asked as kicked off the wall, walking beside me.

"Good, I guess." I said, looking at Arcanine's pokeball. "Arcanine is going to be out for about three weeks or so. But she gave me some meds to help him."

"Man, three weeks?" Bill gasped. "That would be close to a year for a human to heal. What all happened to him?"

"Five broken ribs, broken paw, torn muscles, you name it, he's got it."

"Dang." He said looking back to the path we were walking on. "What kind of a fight was he in? It must have been a monster to cause that much damage. Was it a Kingdra, or Gyarados?"

"No, it was actually a Steelix." I chuckled. "We both thought we had the upper hand, but I guess our over confidence got in the way." I stopped walking, then thought to myself. "Hey, Bill, what time is it?"

"Oh um… hang on, let me check." He dug out his cell phone, putting a finger on the touch screen, making it light up. "It's 8:15. Why, what's up?"

A smile went across my face. "Have you heard about the fossil rehabilitator they have in Cinnabar?"

"Oh yeah." Bill acted like he just retrieved some long lost memories he had stored away in the back of his mind. "Isn't that the thing that your mother designed?"

"Heck, I don't know who designed it. But, have you heard if they have ever had any success with it yet?"

"Well, lets see." Bill put a finger to his chin again as we began to walk once more. "Last I heard of it they said that the only fossils they revived with success were fossils that were, or close to, 100% perfectly preserved. If the fossil was less then 99.5% complete then the reviving was a complete failure and the pokemon came out hideously disfigured, as well as only lived for a short span of 15 minutes or so."

"Do you know how many were successful?" _I really hope they made an improvement since the last time._

"So far there have only been three that were successfully revived." Bill continued. "An Aerodactyl, Kabuto, and an Omanyte. Supposedly a fossil that is 100% intact is so rare that they sell for nearly a million dollars, and the only people that buy them are either private collectors or museums."

"Wow!" _A million bucks! Dang, and here I was thinking I got the short end of the stick with Kabutops._ "So do you happen to know who the three people are that got the pokemon?"

"Not all of them." Bill looked down. "The Aerodactyl was brought in my a female trainer, while the Kabuto was brought in by a male trainer about three months ago. But the last one, however, was recovered only last week by Professor Oak. He cashed in and bought one of the rare fossils, gambled to have the place bring it back to life, and has been running tests on it ever since. He said that after a few months of observations he is going to release his findings to the scientific world." He then looked up to the sky. "Man, it would be great to be able to observe one of those pokemon."

"Well here's a little fact for you." I smiled. "That male trainer that got the Kabuto is standing right here in front of you."

Bill turned to look at me, and then began to laugh. "You're full of crap!" He laughed louder, but then stopped when he saw the look on my face. "Holy snot, you're being serious." He just stared at me as he looked around. "Hey, can you show me?"

"Here?" I asked, seeing the streets filling up with the people coming back for the Ilex forest, who ran off looking for me. "Can we go somewhere else, somewhere not as populated?"

"Does the park sound good?" Bill asked as he pointed just up ahead to the edge of the town. It was an open lot of grass in a flat field with a couple trails and a few trees around. Not many people were in there this early, but a few were playing with their dog pokemon. I watched as a Snubble ran after a Frisbee, catching it and bringing it back to its trainer.

"Yeah, sure." I said as we walked into the park. There were few people around so I guess it was okay.

We walked a little ways away from everyone when I stopped and looked at Bill. "Now, Bill, I want you to know something first, about Kabutops."

"Wow! Your Kabuto already evolved?" He sat down on a bench as he brought out a notepad from his back pocket and a pen from his shirt pocket. He began franticly scribbling down stuff as he motioned for me to continue. "Go on, what else."

"Well, he's um…"

"So it's a male." He scribbled more down.

"Darnit, Bill! Let me speak!" He then stopped and looked at me. "Okay, he's a little … special."

"Special? How so?"

"Well… um…" I paused, thinking of a good way to put this. "He is a little bit… um… happier than most pokemon. And huggy, very, very huggy."

Bill cocked his head at me, giving a strange look of bewilderment. "Maybe if you released him it would give me more of an explanation?"

"Okay, but I just thought I would warn you." I held up his pokeball. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't run away from him."

"Huh?"

"Come on out, Kabutops!" I threw out his pokeball as a red light shot out, making the prehistoric pokemon appear a couple yards in front of Bill.

In this daylight made all of Kabutops's features very noticeable. His exoskeleton bone structure was shown as pieces of rocks jetted out of his rock body. Spikes covered over his back and head as his beady red and black eyes opened. His eyes focused on Bill as his razor sharp teeth began to show in a sinister smile. Drool, from his mouth as he grinned, was dripping from his face down to his claws on his feet. His razor sharp, blade like arms began to rise up high in the air as his eyes narrowed. He was looking at Bill, and Bill knew it.

Bill gulped and I saw him began to back up in the bench he was sitting at. _Please don't run, Bill. Please don't run. _

Kabutops opened his mouth as more drool fell from his sharp teeth. "Kaaaa… Booo…"

Bill began fidgeting in his seat, ready to spring at anytime.

_Please don't run, he's not going to hurt you. Please don't run, if you do he's just going to make a scene. _

"Booo!" Kabutops yelled as he took in a breath. "Tops-Tops-Tops-Tops!" He smiled happily as he ran at Bill, arms spread wide.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Bill screamed, jumping out of the bench as Kabutops ran after him. "Oh My God! Kyle! It's going to kill me!"

"Tops-Tops-Tops!" Kabutops smiled happily, only trying to hug his new friend.

Bill then ran behind me. "Stop him! Stop him! Stop him!"

Kabutops then turned and ran for me, his arms held out wide, wanting to give me a big hug. "Stop!" I said, holding out my hand in front of me at arms length.

Kabutops skidded to a stop as he looked at me. He then flopped down on the ground, sitting in an indian style of sitting as he tilted his head, looking at me with a goofy smile. "Bu-tops!" Then something caught his eye. He turned away, looking about ten feet away at this Caterpie that was crawling in the grass. Kabutops got on all fours, the best he could anyway, with his swords and knees on the ground, crawling toward the Caterpie. "Bu?" He said, tilting his head at the little worm, as he poked it with his sword.

"Cater!" The Caterpie turned to look at Kabutops with a scary face, but instead crawled away at top speed screaming at the sight of the prehistoric pokemon. "Cater-pi-pi-pi!" It cried out.

"Butops-top-tops!" Kabutops laughed happily as he began to play with the scared to death Caterpie.

Bill looked around my shoulder, seeing the monster of a pokemon on all fours, playing and laughing with an… insect. "So… um…"

"Exactly." I said, looking at Kabutops. "Now do you see, he's _"special'_".

"Yeah, I think I see what you're getting at." Bill then went back to sit on the bench, as I did as well. Bill then brought out his pen and notepad again. "That is amazing, to see a pokemon that went extinct long ago up and running around." Bill then looked over at me. "What about your other pokemon? I would like to see them too."

"Hmm…" I began to think. "Well, I suppose I can only let two of them out right now."

"Pi?" Pichu asked as he popped his head out of my book bag.

"Eh." I looked around, not seeing anyone in the park anymore. "Okay, you can come out too."

"Pi!" Pichu then jumped out of the bag, almost losing his balance when he landed on the ground. He was so fat that when he ran he almost tripped on his fat rolls. But he did get out there and play with the Caterpie, and before long, they all were playing pretty nice. That is, once Caterpie learned Kabutops wasn't going to kill it.

"But yeah, I wasn't talking about Pichu." I said, holding up a pokeball. "You see, Arcanine can't get out, Gyarados can't come out here because of the lack of water, and, well, you know the other one that can't come out now."

"So that leaves the one you have in your hand?" Bill asked, pointing at the pokeball.

"Yep." I smiled, throwing it out. "Come on out, Magcargo."

The purple fire snail appeared in front of me and I could swear that I saw Bill almost fall out of his seat. "You have a shiny, too?"

"Yeah." I smiled; watching as he slowly joined the others. "I found him on my way through Azalea town.

"My gosh." Bill said, scribbling down some notes. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity here!" I just laughed as I watched him take notes about my pokemon.

***_-Scene Change-_***

We stayed there, watching my pokemon for about two hours or so before we packed everything up and headed to the bike store. It wasn't that far away from the park, and I was glad for that. I had been walking around all day, and I wasn't used to that, though I knew I needed to get used to it. If I can't get my bike fixed today then my only other means of transportation would be Arcanine, and he's out, so that only leaves my feet. _Poor feet._

We walked into the bike shop and was greeted by a man in a navy blue polo with some dirty blue jeans. "Welcome to Billy's Bike's and More." He said, running behind the counter with the cash register. "How may I help you today?"

"Could you take a look at my bike for me?" I asked, laying the capsule on the counter as Bill looked around at all the bicycles and motorcycles that litter the room. "It got a little banged up."

"Oh, um, okay." He picked up the capsule and looked at it intently before speaking again. "So is this a capsule model?"

I looked at him with a _'Mr. Obvious'_ kind of look. "Yes. It is."

"Oh, okay!" He smiled. "Just making sure! I'll go look at it, take a look around if you want and I'll be right back." After that he ran into the back with the capsule, letting the door to the garage slam shut.

I turned around and walked back over to Bill, who was looking at a blue bicycle on a rack. "You thinking about buying one?" I asked.

"I don't know. I might." He started looking around again. "I mean, I do have a car, but I suppose a bike would be more environmentally friendly." He stopped again, and looked at another blue bicycle. This one was a sportier looking one; with white stripes across the curving handle bars. "So what kind of bike did you get?"

"Heh." I chuckled. "Well, my bike isn't on the market yet. I got a prototype."

"That doesn't matter. Its not like people would ever check to see if a bicycle is registered by the region or not."

"Hey!" The man yelled as he came back in from the back. "Hey, kid, I took a look at your motorcycle."

"Wait, motorcycle?" Bill turned around to me. "You mean you have been driving around in an unregistered motorcycle?"

"Shhh!" I shushed him. "Keep it down." I then walked to the man at the counter. "Yeah, so what do you think?"

"Well." The guy sighed. "The body's a little dinged up."

There was a long pause. "And?" I asked.

"Um… well… lets see. It's got a flat tire."

"Yeah, and?" I asked again, this time getting annoyed.

"Um… It's a little low on oil."

"For God sake! How much will it cost to fix it?" I spoke loudly, probably more loudly then I needed too.

"Oh! You want me to fix it?" They guy then acted like something just clicked with him. "Oh! I get it now!"

"Yes! I want you to fix it! That's why I brought it here, so you can fix it."

"Oh… so um…" The guy then paused again. "So, what do you want me to fix?"

"Fr-gia, so-a, frigin…. AAarrrrrrrrrrr…." I growled. "Ahhhhh…" I put my palm on my face as I kept talking. "How much will it cost for you to repair the body, and replace the tire on my motorcycle?"

"Ohhh!" He then thought. "Well, the body I can fix for about… I don't know, it's pretty banged up… I would say about three thousand would do it."

"Three grand?" I then rolled my eyes. _Well, I guess that's a good deal seeing as how its not registered anywhere, or even for sale._ "Okay, and how about the tire? Can you get me a new one?"

"Umm… I don't think so. Let me check." He walked over to a computer/video phone that was on the table as he brought up an online catalog with motorcycle parts. "It looks like they don't even make a tire that size for a bike."

"That's great." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Umm… the closest thing I can get for you would be a tractor tire. But if I put that on there you couldn't go any faster than 40 miles per hour or it would blow out." He then looked at me. "Would you like me to put one on for you?"

"No, don't put a stupid tractor tire on it!" I then paused. "Hey, wait. Is that a video phone too?" I asked.

"This?" They guy asked pointing to the computer. "Yeah, it is."

"Do you know the number of the bike shop in Cerulean City?"

"You mean in Kanto?" The guy asked.

"Yes, it is the only city named Cerulean."

"Oh yeah! I know that place."

Once again there was a long pause. "Ahh…" I sighed. "Can you call the bike shop for me?"

"Oh! Yeah, I can do that." He then paused. "Which bike shop?"

I grit my teeth together as I felt steam roll out of my ears. "Can you _PLEASE_ call the number of the bike shop in _Cerulean City_?" I spoke through my teeth.

"Oh! Yeah! Yeah!" He then dialed a number and waited for it to ring in.

"Yeah, what is it?" A guy on the phone picked up. "What do you want now Billy?"

"Uhhhh…" Billy said as he stared at the videophone blankly.

"Oh for God's sake." I jumped over the table, pushing Billy away from the video feed. "Hey, remember me?" I asked, taking off my shades.

"No, why?" The guy on the other end asked. "Should I, kid?"

"I suppose you should seeing as how I paid five million dollars for a bike at your shop."

I saw the man's eyes grow wide as he began to laugh. "Well, hey kid!" The man laughed. "I thought I would never see you again. So what's up, did you get into a little trouble or something and need the bike worked on?"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well hey, my advice to you…" He leaned in really close to the camera. "Don't let B-I-L-L-Y work on it." He said, spelling it out. "He's not that S-M-A-R-T if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I've gathered that."

"Well, hey kid, like I told you last year, if that bike ever gets hurt or damaged before it comes out, just send it back to me and I'll cover the damages." The guy then laughed as he pointed to the item deposit unit. "Just place it in there."

"Hey, that's awesome!" I said with a smile as took the capsule out of Billy's hand and placed it in the unit. I hit the send button and the capsule flashed three times before being transported to the other end. "Hey, did you get it?"

"Yep, right here." The man said as he held up the capsule. "Now kid, just give me about a week or so and call me back. I should have it fixed by then. So hey, what's all wrong with it anyway?"

"It needs body work and a new tire." I said.

"Hmm… better give me two weeks." The man then put the capsule some where out of sight of the camera. "But yeah, just give me a call and I'll send it back to you free of charge."

"Thanks so much for that!" I said with a smile.

"Anytime." The man then laughed. "Just don't forget to stop back over here in Cerulean City next time you pass through. I want you to see what all that money you spent went into." After that the call was cut.

_".I want you to see what all that money you spent went into"? Well I guess 5 million dollars does go a long way._ I turned to look back at Bill who was still looking at bikes. "Welp!" I said, jumping over the counter. "Ready to get out of here?"

"Yeah, sure, I guess." Bill turned to me as we walked out the door.

"Come back… anytime… thank you for you… business." Billy said from behind the counter as the door shut.

"So where now?" Bill asked.

"Lets go for a hike." I smiled.

"What kind of a hike?"

"An icy one." I saw Bill smile as we ran off into the woods.

"Come on follow me!" Bill said. "I know someplace no one ever goes, it would be a great place for her to come out!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Articuno didn't seem to thrilled about meeting Bill, but after a while they seemed to really hit it off. She informed him about all the information regarding legendaries that he wanted to know, as well as other things about her. He tried to stay off touchy subjects, such as her family or other stuff like that, but he did beat around the bush, and Articuno quickly changed the topic every time.

They stayed there talking for quite a while, that is until me and Bill went to go get lunch. But as soon as we were done eating, we went right back into the woods and they talking started all over again. _I must say, it was pretty boring to listen to them talk, but it gave me and Pichu some time to train, trying to work off all that fat he had gained. _

We stopped and ate once more before me and Bill went our different ways.

"So where you off to now?" Bill asked.

"Well, I need to complete the Johto league in two months, so my next stop is Mahogany." I smiled, watching as the sun began set.

"Oh, going to fight Pryce, huh?" Bill questioned. "Well, seeing as how you have three fire types, I wouldn't worry that much about it."

"Yeah, well that's what I thought when I fought Jasmine too, but look what she did to Arcanine." I smiled. "I'm not going to take any chances. Types mean nothing in a pokemon battle."

"Well, Kyle." Bill said as he stood up. "I guess I'll see you later. You take care now, you hear?"

"You too Bill." We gave each other a hug as we began to walk our different ways, him to his Gram's house, and me into the woods. "Hey, Bill." I said, stopping. "You forgot these." I took off the sunglasses and handed them to him.

He just smiled and shook his head. "You keep them. They look better on you anyway. Besides, now I can call you six eyes instead of four."

"Hah!" I laughed. "Just because you have contacts now doesn't mean anything." We stayed there smiling at one another. "Well, take it easy Bill."

"You too, bud."

I turned, walking into the woods, where Articuno waited for me only a few hundred feet away.

_"Are we ready to leave?" _She asked.

"Yeah, lets head on out of here." I said, climbing on her back.

I saw her turn to look at me. _"Is everything alright, Kyle?"_

"Yeah." I said quietly. "I just wish… oh, never mind." I chuckled. "It was stupid."

Articuno looked back in front of her as she took off into the air, leaving the little frozen patch of forest behind us. _"I have a feeling Shonna feels the same way."_ She spoke. _"From the way you speak of her, I don't think she would be any other kind of person."_ When I didn't say anything, she continued. _"I'm sorry. I shouldn't pry into your thoughts."_

"No, its okay." I said as I pat her on the back. "I just hope you're right. I really do."


	21. Rocket Hideout

**Authors Note!**

This will be the last chapter I will be able to post up for a while. I am back in school, and this semester has been the worst yet about homework/work load. I will try to write as much as I can, but please dont be expecting and update for a while.

**Thank you very much all my readers!**

I hope that you all have been enjoying my story.**  
**

**Chapter 20**

**The Rocket Hideout**

For the next couple of weeks we stayed out in the woods between Goldenrod and Mahogany, training and battling the occasional trainer we would find along the way. We didn't stick to any particular trail or path; instead we just made out own, cutting straight down the middle from the two cities. Whenever we came across a pond or river I let out Gyarados, letting him get some experience too. And when we came across a rocky area that we couldn't go around, I brought out Articuno who was always happy to help. _I am glad that she was getting better with me; it makes traveling around much easier._

Arcanine was doing better as well, and me giving him those smashed up rare candies was doing miracles for his healing. Within the two weeks he was almost at 100% and was much stronger than before.

I didn't have my navigation system or anything to help us in our path, so every now and again I would go high up in the sky with Articuno and see if we were on the right track. Most of the time we were, but making sure was always a good thing. It would be bad to get lost in a place like this.

All this walking was doing wonders for Pichu as well. Nearly all of his fatness was gone, and he had almost doubled in power because of it. With him constantly battling and burning that fat he was one fit little mouse.

It was night on the last day of the second week when we finally arrived in Mahogany. We were all so tired that the first thing I did was go to the pokecenter. Me and Pichu went in, looking around to see no one around at all. I was so tired that I didn't even look at the town; I had no idea if it was big, small, city, a hick town or what. And right then, I didn't care.

Pichu ran up on the counter over to the bell. He looked around and didn't see anyone. A sly little smile went across his face and I already knew what he was thinking.

"DING-DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!" The bell went as he slammed his little paws down on the button franticly.

"I'm coming!" I heard a voice scream from the back, but Pichu kept ringing the bell. "I'm coming!" The voice screamed again, but Pichu still kept at it strong. "Darnit! I said I'm coming!" A Nurse Joy screamed as she ran up to the front in her pajamas, which were not even fully buttoned and hanging loosely on her. She slammed her hand down on the bell making Pichu stop.

"And she wasn't lying." I heard a familiar voice say in a very perverse way. _Oh no, it can't be._ But it was. Standing in the back where Nurse Joy ran from was his long red hair and blood red eyes, staring back at me from the darkness of the hall way. "Well, Kyle, nice get up. Glad to see you actually have some nice clothes in your inventory."

"Ricky, what the heck are you doing here?" I asked.

"Well, I was doing something before we were so rudely interrupted." Ricky then walked up behind Joy, wrapping his arm around her as he threw me a key. "Hey, Joy, let's give Kyle my room and go on back to yours."

"Oh… okay." Joy said as she began to blush.

"Yeah, no thanks." I said, sliding the key back on the counter. I then reached around, taking another key from under the desk. "I think I'll take room number… 12." I then tossed the key in the air, catching it as I grabbed Pichu and headed down the hall.

I unlocked the door, heading inside and throwing my stuff on the floor. I then fell on the bed, so exhausted from the two-week trip of sleeping on the ground. "Man, a bed feels so good. Don't you think so Pichu?" I looked over at him, but he was already asleep. "Heh. Well, goodnight little guy." Reaching into my bag I took out my pills and a bottle of water. I took a swig, swallowing the pill and laying my head back down. "I guess tomorrow we will look at the town. Maybe even get a badge. I don't know, we might just sleep." I rolled over, and closed my eyes, falling asleep.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Richard and Rachel had just got back to the Rocket base in Mount Silver earlier that day. Their plan to overthrow Conner was already in effect. All the active members of the rebellion were already relocated to the secret Rocket hideout in Mahogany town. Everything was ready for the takeover except two things, which Richard and Rachel were picking up in Mount Silver.

Richard was hard at work retrieving the IP addresses and personal data information needed to manually shut down the 'Conner Projects' (Mew Three project as well as the Neural Entopic Control System project) from a stationary computer, via hacking the database.

Rachel, on the other hand, was also working on getting the bio information on the artificially enhanced pokemon that Conner had on his person. With those last pieces of information Conner's pokemon could be shut down and controlled, as well as his base, and Team Rocket all together.

Richard was only a few clicks away when the videophone overhead kicked on. Richard jumped as a static covered face called out. "Richard! Richard!" The man screamed. "Abort mission! Abort mission!"

Richard knew this person from the resistance, and called back out. "What are you talking about?" Richard asked. "We are only seconds away fro-"

Richard stopped what he was saying as he saw Conner's face appear on the monitor. "Well, well, Richard." Conner said, as he watched Richard behind his desk. "So you are the one behind this mutiny."

"The only one guilty of mutiny here is you!" Richard screamed. "You are the face that ruined Team Rocket! You are! I'm just the one that is going to set it straight!"

"Oh really? Are you?" Conner laughed. "Richard, I know about your idiotic attempt of a revolt in Mahogany." Richard gulped as he listened. "I have known about it for a long time. But, what I didn't know, is that you were in charge of it."

"Conner, its over!" Richard said, typing in the rest of the keys. "I have all the information I need to end you, now!" He hit the enter key, but nothing happened. He hit it again, and again, and then he heard Conner laugh.

"Do you take me as a fool?" Conner asked. "Do you really think I am that blind? Do you think I am that stupid? Well, obviously you do or you wouldn't have tried it. You will _never_ get those authorization codes! They are scrambled every hour, so even if you were able to hack it, they would simply regenerate by the time you went to use them." Richard then backed away from the computer. "Oh yes, and Richard. You better hope that your wife isn't in this building that I'm about to shut down, because if I find out she is in here, I'll do what I have always wanted to do to her." He then got really close to the camera as he spoke in a deep low voice. "I'll make her scream in soooo many ways. Hahah!" He then bellowed and laughed.

"She doesn't have anything to do with this!" Richard screamed. "It's all me! And I don't care to say it! It was all me!"

"You know…" Conner spoke low. "I really hope you are lying to me. I want to have some fun with her before she dies." He laughed again as he shut the call off.

"Shit!" Richard screamed as he called Rachel on his cell phone.

The phone rang as Rachel picked up. "Yes dear?"

"Rachel, Conner knows, but he doesn't now about you." The phone was quite so Richard continued. "Stop looking that stuff up, now! If you don't he can trace that it's you. Right now he only knows about me, so stop, now!"

"What about the people in Mahogany?" Rachel asked.

There was a long pause before Richard spoke again. "We all fell right into his trap."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I was awoken early the next morning by pounding on the door. I groaned, rolling over as the pounding persisted. "What? What is it?" I yelled in a half asleep voice.

"Kyle!" Ricky called out. "Kyle get up! Hurry it up!"

I rolled out of bed as Pichu sat up, yawning. I walked over to the door, cracking it open. "What, what is it?" I asked.

"Kyle, you need to come with me, right now!"

"Why, what's going on?" I yawned. "Did you end up getting some one pregnant?"

"No, its more serious than that." He explained. "I'll tell you in the lobby, but hurry up and get dressed." After that he ran down the hall.

"Wow. That's sad." I said as I put on some deodorant. "He brushed off someone getting knocked up like it was no big deal. What an awful relationship he has with his women." I yawned as I slipped on my nice shirt and pulled up my pants. I strapped on both belts and walked out and down the hall to the lobby. I popped in a breath mint for my horrid morning breath as I sat down on the couch next to Ricky. "What's up?"

"Kyle, listen." He said, leaning in towards me. "I was out early this morning when I saw some Team Rocket members head into the radio tower beside this building."

"Team Rocket?" I looked at him uneasily. "Ricky, I'm sure you just saw something else." I said, brushing it off. "If you were out early this morning then I'm sure you were just seeing things. It happens to me all the time when it's early."

"Kyle, I know what I saw." Rick looked at me sternly.

"Wow, you're serious?"

"Of course I am, and I'm not going to sit back and let them get away with whatever they are doing." Ricky then stood up. "Kyle, I need you to help me, I can't take them on by myself."

"That's a job for the police." I said, standing up and heading back down the hall. "Let them handle it."

"Fine! Be that way!" Ricky called out. "But I'm going in there with or without you! Those people are the reason my father is dead and I'm not going to let the person responsible for his death get away with it!" With that Ricky ran out the door of the center, letting it slam shut behind him.

"Pi?" Pichu said as he walked around the corner of the hall that connected the rooms to the lobby. He was still sleepy and was rubbing his eyes with a paw.

I turned around, looking at the door. _What should I do? On one hand I have Ricky fighting an entire team of Rockets by himself, and on the other I can go on back to bed and act like nothing ever happened. _I began to walk down the hallway when I stopped. Pichu stopped as well, taking the opportunity to scurry up my pant leg and sit on my shoulder. I stood still for a while before I turned back around. "Well, crap."

I headed for the PC, logging in as I removed Articuno's pokeball. When I logged in, I noticed I had a message.

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray**_

_**Subject: Retrieval Needed**_

_**Pokemon Number: 3167389 – Name: Typhlosion – needs to be sent immediately. Transfer as reply to message.**_

"Come on, again?" I said. "Ahh, fine, whatever, but only because I'm in a hurry and I'm not using him anyway." I attached Typhlosion to the message and hit send. After that I put Articuno's pokeball on the deposit unit and exchanged it for the only pokemon left in my box. The pokeball sparked and vanished only to have another appear. I took the pokeball out and placed it on my belt. "Darnit Ricky, you had better be right about this."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I walked outside and noticed that this town was rather large. Not as big as Goldenrod, or even Olivine for that matter, but it was still pretty big. There were a couple nice houses with a few stores here and there, and also a radio tower, like Ricky said, which was located right beside the Pokecenter.

"Eh," I said, looking at Pichu. "Shall we?"

We walked into the radio tower. There were leather chairs and sofas everywhere all over the lobby, with large TV's and classic radios as well, that were all tuned into the same channel. The only strange thing about this place was that it was deserted. Not a soul anywhere.

_**CRASH!**_ I heard come from the back as people began to scream.

"Get him, men! Don't back down! We got him where we want him!"

I ran back to where the crash came from, jumping over a counter and swinging open a door from behind the main desk. Inside I saw Ricky, with Swampert drawn out, and about thirty or so men in full Rocket uniforms with their pokemon ready to attack.

"Who's that kid?" One of the Rockets shouted.

"Who cares? Take care of him too!" The man then pointed to Ricky. "If he's with him he's our enemy as well!"

"Kyle!" Ricky said. "Nice of you to join me."

"I haven't joined you yet." I reached for a Pokeball around my belt. "Go, Dragonite!"

"Drraaaa!" Dragonite roared as she landed beside Swampert.

"Hey, I didn't know you had one of those." Ricky gawked. "Those things are super rare."

"Well don't get too distracted." I said watching as three Crobats began to fly at us. "Dragonite! Dodge left and use Twister!"

"Swampert, dodge right and use Whirlpool!" All three Crobats flew at Dragonite and Swampert, who both dodged and used their attacks together, creating a dragon/water attack that dealt great damage to the bats. All three of them fell to the ground before being recalled.

"What else do you guys have?" Ricky asked in a sinister way that was almost scary.

"We are here to stop you!" One of the lead Rockets said as he stepped forward. "You will not get away with all you have done!"

"Wait." I looked at the man who was speaking. _I know that man. That is, that's the guy I met before at the Hot Spring Resort. That's Charles._

"What?" Ricky asked, looking back at me. But when he did five electrodes rolled through the group of rockets, heading right for Swampert.

"Ricky! Look out!" I pointed as I gave Dragonite a command. "Dodge! Fly to the ceiling!"

Dragonite took off and hovered a few feet off the ground, only being inches away from the ceiling, since he was such a big pokemon. When Dragonite was off the ground, Ricky made his move. "Earthquake!" He screamed. The ground shook as rocks and steel jetted out of the floor around the Electrodes, stopping them in place only a few feet away from Swampert.

"Now!" One of the Rockets screamed as the Electrode in the rear exploded. The force of the explosion caused the other four to spring out of the jetted rocks that were holding them in place as they hovered and landed on Swampert.

"Now!" Four more Rockets screamed as all four of the Electrodes exploded.

The room was filled with smoke from the explosion as Ricky still stood there, not making a move. The rockets were all cheering as they recalled their pokemon, but as they did the smoke cleared and Swampert was still standing, pretty beat up, but still standing.

_How is that possible?_ I looked at the mud fish as it panted. _That was four explosions at close range. That shouldn't have just knocked it out, it should have killed it, but, it's still… up._

"Oh God." Charles said. "It's not shut down." They all began to back away. "Richard… Richard that bastard must have told him! Richard betrayed us!"

"What do we do now?" One of them asked.

"You should try to kill me." Ricky said as his eyes turned from just a red to a blood red. "Before I kill you."

I backed away from him as they all began to charge their pokemon at full blast towards him. Dragonite looked back at me, asking silently what to do, but honestly, I didn't know. All of them were fighting Ricky, just Ricky, and here Ricky just threatened to kill off all of them. _What in the world is going on?_

I watched as Swampert stood up to several more single hit K-O attacks before Ricky recalled him, throwing out his Ursaring, which began thrashing everything that came close to it. "My Gosh." I said, watching the bear take hit after hit. "Its almost like those pokemon are not real, like they are some kind of machines that are only meant to kill."

One by one, all the Rockets ran out of Pokemon, and almost as soon as they were all out, police sirens could be heard from outside the radio station. Ricky then turned to look at me. "Did you call the cops?"

"Yeah." I smiled, recalling Dragonite. "Right before I left the center."

"Everyone freeze!" A police officer said as they ran into the back where we all were. His gun was drawn and was pointing it around at everyone. He then grabbed his walky-talky in his free hand, still holding out his gun. "I found them. Back part of the room, everything looks secure."

Shortly after Officer Jenny walked in behind him, carrying a nightstick with her as she walked up to me. "You Kyle?"

"Yeah." I said. "I'm Kyle Gray, the one that called it in. That's Ricky." I said, pointing over to him. "He's with me."

"Wait, you're Kyle Gray?" One of the Rockets said as he screamed at me. "You idiot! Don't you know who that kid is?"

"What?" I looked at him strange as he pointed at Ricky. "You are a complete idiot if you haven't noticed it by now! You're being thieved out of your ow-"

"Shut-up, scumbag!" Ricky said as he kicked the man in the gut. "No one is going to listen to your lies. You're all going to jail, and there's nothing you can say to change that!"

"That's right." Jenny said, walking up to Ricky as she squeezed his right butt cheek.

"Oh, gross." I cringed as she looked at Ricky.

"I want to have a few words with you later." She winked, and then turned to look at the other cops. "Alright boys, book them and take them down to headquarters."

"Yes ma'am!" They smirked and began cuffing all of the Rocket members.

Me and Ricky turned to walk outside as all the Rockets tried to revolt. "You idiots! He's right there! That's him! That's him!" I heard them scream. "Get him! Not us!"

When we got outside Jenny was already there, hiking her leg high on the cruiser and motioned for Ricky in a seductive way with her finger. "Hey, Kyle, thanks for everything, but I gotta…" He pointed over to Jenny.

"Ricky." I stopped him. "Before you go, what was that back there that I saw?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Your Swampert. Back when we fought Chuck you used a move I had never even heard of, and now I just saw it go through enough damage to kill any normal pokemon five times over." I looked at him sternly. "What the heck did you do to that thing?"

"Ah, you know." He smiled. "We all have our ways to train." He then motioned to the car again. "I'll catch up to you later." He then ran off, hopping in the back of a cruiser with Jenny.

"Yeah. Right." I said, walking away. "No mater how much training you have, a pokemon is not going to be able to stand up to something like that."

I was walking back to the center when the first cop brought out a Rocket. The Rocket looked at me and then spoke. "Hey, kid."

"What?" I asked as I walked beside him.

"He's stealing them. He's stealing them right from under your nose."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, as he was hit in the ribs by the cop that was pretty much dragging him.

"Shut up!"

"Agh!" The man coughed, spitting up blood. "If he gets Mew Three… then there will be no stopping him. Stop him…"

"I said, shut up!" The cop screamed as he kicked him into the back of a squad car. "Now be quiet! If you know what's good for ya!" He then slammed the metal doors shut as he turned to look at me. "Don't pay them any mind kid, they will say anything to get out of jail."

"Yeah." I said, continuing down the path to the center. "I guess."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The center was much busier now than it was when I first arrived yesterday. People were filing in, healing their pokemon, and, from what looked to be a very serious ice battle. Nearly every one of the pokemon that came in was either frozen or frostbit. _If I were to guess it would be the Gym Leader's doing. Man, to brush off all those people just today, he must be one heck of a trainer. _

I bypassed all the trainers and made my way to the PCs/videophones in the corner. _I needed to find something out. I need to know what to make of that Rocket._ My thoughts then trailed back to only a few moments before.

"_He's stealing them. He's stealing them right from under your nose."_

I waited for the video to cut to a blue screen as the dial tone came on. I punched in the number. The eleven-digit number appeared on the screen and began to call. It rang once, twice, and then a woman in her forties with frizzy short blonde hair came up on the screen.

" Cinnabar Research Fa-" She stopped when she saw me. "Yeah, what is it now, Kyle?" Her voice changed from an almost annoyed tone to a completely pissed off one.

"Hi, mother."

"If you have something to say go ahead and say it." She griped. "I don't have all day to listen to your whining. Spit it out so I can get back to work."

"Good morning to you too." I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, I was wondering when you planned on sending me back my pokemon. I have several gym battles coming up and I-"

"I don't have any of your pokemon." She spat, cutting me off. "The only one I have over here is the one that is automatically sent here when it is deposited."

"So you haven't been sending me emails about pokemon?" I asked, almost in shock at what she just told me.

"No, I haven't." She then raised her hand to the monitor. "Now if that is all, I have work to do. Don't ever call me here again." With that, she clicked the call off.

I reclined back in my seat, thinking deep about this. _If she hasn't been sending me emails, then where are those emails coming from?_ I closed out of the phone program and opened up my PC login. As I plugged in my information I checked my pokemon boxes, only seeing a grayed out icon for Articuno. _If she doesn't have my pokemon, then where have they all gone?_

"Oh! I got it!" I said as I closed out of my pokemon boxes and opened up my mail, going straight for the outbox. I checked the sent information, and then thought again. _How is that possible? That is my mothers email, her ID number, even her private contact info as well. I sent it to that email, I know I did. _

"Well, I suppose there is always one person I can call." I sighed as I minimized the inbox info and opened up the phone program again. I plugged in the number and waited for it to ring in.

"Hello?" Bill picked up, half asleep, as usual. His face didn't show up on the monitor because I called his cell phone, but I knew it was him.

"Hey, Bill." I said. "I need your help."

"Again?" He groaned. "Kyle, why do you always need my help so early? It's like… 8am. A computer programmer needs his sleep."

"Bill…" I said in a serious voice. "You know how I have been sending my pokemon to my mother?"

"Yeah, why?" He yawned. "What's up? Something happen?"

"I just called my mother." I paused. "She doesn't have them. And she said she hasn't emailed me."

Bill was quiet for a while, so I continued.

"She used to send me emails saying to send her back pokemon through the PC, then one day I got an email from her saying to sent the pokemon as an attachment to a letter. From then on the emails were sent like that, and now she says she doesn't have any of my pokemon.

"Kyle, when was the last time you sent one out?"

"About and hour or two ago." I said, bringing up my inbox. "I actually have it brought up right now."

"Good." I heard Bill get up and shuffle some things around. "I want you to forward me that email. Send it to my private email address, _.com_."

"Alright." I said, typing the address in and clicking the send button. "Here ya go, I just sent it."

I heard a ding on the other end when Bill spoke up. "Yeah, I just got it. Now lets see." I heard keys being struck and a series of beeps and clicks. "Kyle, this is a hacked email." Bill said. "Your pokemon are being stolen."

I felt my throat get dry as my stomach sunk. I felt sick, almost like I was going to throw up. "Stolen?"

"Yes, stolen." Bill said as I heard keys being struck more. "They were able to hack into your mothers computer, her main master computer over their entire network at the Cinnabar Research Facility." The noises from the keys and computer continued. "Whoever is behind this is good, really good. It takes more than an amateur to pull off a hack job like this, trust me, I know."

"Is there anyway you can tell me where they are being sent to?" I pleaded.

"I'm sorry Kyle, but they have this so bugged out I cant get anywhere here. I would need to get back to my lab in Kanto before I could do anything else. Even then, I don't know if I can."

"How long will it take you to get back?" I asked.

"Two days?" Bill guessed. "That is if I drive. But, Kyle, to be 100% sure I need to see the email before you send it."

"I'm not sending another one out!" I jumped up, watching as she people stopped to look at me. I sat back down pulling up closer to the computer. "Sorry, Bill." I said. "There's people in here, ya know?"

"Kyle, I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you need to play along with this for a little bit longer." Bill spoke calmly. "This person isn't selling, killing, or getting rid of them, because it looks like they were not removed from the emails, rather they are being stored elsewhere through it. If you let, whoever it is, know that you are catching on then they will probably terminate your pokemon on the spot."

"Then what should I do?" I asked.

"Keep it down. Act normal." Bill said. "Kyle, we will catch this person, but until then keep your strongest ones on you, at all times, never let the person have them. Next time they ask for one, I will get them." Bill then paused. "Kyle, did they get… you know… her?"

"No." I said calmly. "She is transferred to a different place all together every time she is deposited."

"Is there anyone else that has seen her besides you, me, your mother, the gym leader you were with, and Professor Oak?"

I paused, thinking back to when I saw Ricky in the cave, looking out at Articuno before I put her up. "No. I guess not"

"Then I think the person that is stealing them can't look into your PC storage system." Bill then said. "Kyle, I hate to tell you this, but the person stealing your pokemon is spying on you. Probably, you have even met them before and you don't even know it."

"Really?" I asked. "Why do you say that?"

"Because it seems as if they steal pokemon in the order they see them." Bill then pushed some more buttons. "You withdrew Pidgeot, used her in a battle against Bugsy, if I'm not mistaken, and then she was stolen. After that you withdrew Primeape, and shortly after him and Scyther were stolen. You withdrew Umbreon for Morty and after that, well, he was stolen as well. Kyle, they are stealing them as you use them. They must be somewhere around you, watching you, and then stealing the ones they see you have."

I slammed my fist on the table with the computer on it. "I must be the worst trainer in the world."

"Kyle, do you have any idea what they could be doing with them?"

I sighed, thinking back to the Rockets. "Today I busted into a Rocket hideout. When the cops showed up one of the Rockets told me my pokemon were being stolen, and then said something about… about a, Mew Three."

Bill was silent.

"Bill," I asked. "Do you know anything about this?"

I heard him sigh, as he spoke. "As you know, Mew is an extinct pokemon. About ten years ago scientist found the remains of one, mummified in a tomb in the high north regions on one of Sinnoh's islands. One of the scientists that discovered the sample stole it and it went missing. About six years ago some rumors went around about some members of Team Rocket having the sample and doing tests on it to try to create the world's strongest pokemon. This experiment was called Mew Two." Bill then sighed as he went on. "Giovanni, the old leader of Team Rocket, claimed that they had succeeded in creating it about a year ago, but he stated that it blew up his headquarters and flew off into space. He was forced to leave and took shelter in one of his 'stolen pokemon storage units' in Viridian. He was found by some trainers and was then turned into the police."

My eyes opened wide as I listened to the story. _That, that was me and Shonna. We found him and shut in down almost a year ago!_ My hand raised to my forehead as I began to breath heavily.

"Bill," I asked. "Do you think my pokemon are being used to make a Mew Three?"

"I don't know." Bill said. "I guess anything is possible, but it seems highly unlikely. Since Giovanni is in prison now, police estimate only about three or four Rocket hideouts are left around. I doubt there would be enough people left to even make a dent in the amount of scientific knowledge that would be needed to create something as sophisticated as that."

"Okay, Bill." I said reaching my hand to the disconnect button. "Thanks for your help. I'll let you go now."

"Kyle, wait." Bill said as my finger hovered over the button. "Act normal. Act like you don't know what's going on. If you act out, you may never see your pokemon again. Also, look out. Someone is watching you. Very close. Don't tell a soul, no one, not even your own pokemon! Don't tell a soul!"

"Alright." I said. "I got it. And I'll give you a call when I get my next email."

"Okay. I'll be leaving for home soon. I should be there when the next one comes." There was a short silence. "Good luck, Kyle."

"Thanks." I then clicked the call off, putting my shoulders on the table as I shoved my face into my hands. "My, God. How can he expect me to sit here and do nothing when my pokemon are being stolen?"

"_He's stealing them. He's stealing them right from under your nose."_

"He's stealing them?" I began to speak to myself. "He's stealing them?"

The door to the center swung open as a familiar voice echoed through the lobby. "Ahhh!" Ricky stretched. "Nothing like kicking some booty and getting' some in the same day! Am I right, Kyle?" I heard him stop talking as footsteps came closer and closer to me. "You alright, Kyle?"

"Yeah." I said, taking my hands off my face as I threw myself back in the chair, closing my eyes. _'Don't tell a soul!'_ Bills words echoed through my head. "Just sleepy, man. You woke me up so freakin early, I'm dead."

"What are you doing at the PC?" Ricky asked, pointing to my email.

"Eh, nothing." I leaned up, closed out of my stuff and logged off. "Just checking my mother's email. I swear, that woman is taking too many of my pokemon." I stood up, trying to swallow my bitterness as I walked away. "And, really, what's up with you waking some one up so gosh darn early? It was barely daybreak."

"Oh, come on." Ricky said, wrapping his arm around me as he reached into his jacket, pulling out an eight ball. "I'll make it up to you." He then held the ball in his hand, twisting his hand as it spun up his finger and rested on the top of it, still spinning. "We still haven had a rematch yet like we said we would. I need to win back my title, remember?"

"Oh trust me." I half-heartedly laughed. "You have kept your title as a 'womanizing show off' quite well. I don't think anyone can strip you of that."

"Yeah, that's true." Ricky said, tossing the ball in the air and catching it. He then looked at me with his blood red eyes. "Come on." He motioned to the door. "One game of pool, what do ya' say?"

I smirked, and then shrugged his arm off me. "Sure, why not?"


	22. A Pryce to Pay

**Chapter 21**

**A Pryce to Pay**

To my surprise the town did have a pool hall, but sadly it was also the local bar and tobacco store as well. It was almost like a raincloud when you stepped into the place. People were everywhere, at the counter, at tables, shooting pool, and even a couple were up on the small stage in the back corner singing karaoke, drunk off their gourds, of course. There was one thing I liked about the place however; the piano man was very talented. It was like walking into one of those old classic bars you see in the old westerns, you now, if you took out all the drunk cowboys and replaced them with … regular drunk people.

"Open up table eight." Ricky said, slamming a wad of cash down on the table. "And give me a beer."

"A beer?" I asked. _Is this really how he gets his alcohol? He just asked for it? Come on, anyone can see that he is only 15!_

"Yeah, a beer." Ricky said, looking at me. "What, you want one?"

"No." I said flatly as the bartender handed us two pool sticks, taking the money at the same time.

"Hey, douche-bag!" Ricky shouted. "I said a beer!"

The bar went quiet for a little bit, but quickly picked back up when everyone saw that Ricky was talking to the bartender. "Hmph." The bartender snorted. "Sorry, kid, but I need to see some ID first."

"Well, if that's all." Ricky took out his wallet, slipping out a fake drivers license and sliding it to the bartender.

The bartender looked it over, and then glanced back at Ricky.

_Oh my God, is this really going to work? Even a complete idiot can see he is far from twenty-one years old!_

"Fine, kid." The bartender said as he slid the card back to Ricky. "But this stuff will stunt your growth."

"Is that was happened to you?" Ricky cackled, poking fun of the man that stood no taller than us.

The bartender turned back around to face us, sliding a mug full of beer to Ricky. "Any more wise cracks like that and you'll be on the streets. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah." Ricky said, sipping on his beer as he twirled the pool stick in the air. "Hey, set us up for only one game, okay?"

We walked away from the counter, heading towards the table. It was kind of strange, seeing the table that Ricky picked. It was the table in the back right corner, hidden in the dark_. I don't know why he picked that one out of all of them; there were about five other open tables to pick from, so why that one?_ _Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter. A game of pool is still a game of pool, regardless where it is._

"I'll rack, you break." Ricky said in a gulp as he slammed his mug down on the rim of the table, making some of the beer slosh out onto the dark green felt shooting area.

"So." I asked, watching him set the triangle. "Where did you get that ID?"

"Hmph." He smirked. "A little gift from my father's…" He paused, watching me chalk up my stick. "My father's, inheritance."

"Your father left you a fake ID?" I asked. "Pretty sucky inheritance if you ask me."

"He didn't leave me the ID." Ricky spat as he lifted up the triangle from the table, sitting the billiard balls in place. "It was his inheritance from which I made the ID."

"Umm.. okay." _That was strange. Ricky has never talked with such… precision around me. He almost sounded like Bill there for a second. _I shook off the thought as I placed the cue-ball on the table. I lined up my shot, shooting the ball and making it strike into the triangle at the top right side. Sadly, I didn't make a single thing, but I did scatter the balls over the table quite well.

"Hmph." Ricky smirked again. "Empty shot. I guess I'm going to have to show you how it's done." He walked over to the cue-ball, lining up his shot to strike into a cluster of solids and striped balls. He swiftly made his shot, having the cue-ball strike into the group, sinking a solid and a stripe. "Well, well." He smiled as he took another sip of his mug. "Looks like I have a few choices. I can either go with the solids, or stripes." He shot me a glare as he pulled his blood red hair behind his ear.

I almost gasped when I saw his face. His eyes were narrow, almost like they were slits. It was as if he looked like one of the villains from those video games I used to play. And his eyes, his eyes, they were red, redder than normal, they were almost glowing in a sinister way.

He squatted down, glaring up at me as he lined up his next shot. "What's wrong, Kyle?" He asked in a deep voice as he shot, sinking the 3-ball and the 5-ball into two different pockets. "Afraid?"

"Of what?" I brushed him off, acting like everything was fine. "A bunch of drunken idiots in a bar. Phft, far from."

"No…" Ricky then glanced up at me again, lining up for another shot. "Losing. Losing to me."

"It's just a game." I said, looking at where he was going to shoot. _He is aiming for one of the striped balls, my ball. _"You know if you hit the other persons billiard first you lose your turn, right?"

"I don't plan on it." He grinned again, striking the cue-ball on the bottom of it, making I pop into the air, coasting over my ball and landing back on the table, sinking another one of his.

"Wow." I said, watching him line up for another. "Pretty nice shot. I haven't seen anyone do that before, except for me."

"So, its just a game, huh?" Ricky asked, looking back at the table. "You realize that I only have two left to make. Does that not worry you?"

"Two?" I looked at the table, seeing the 1-ball, 7-ball and 6-ball. "You have three."

"No I don't." Ricky shot again, once more jumping one of my balls and sticking the 1-ball into the pocket. "You didn't answer me." He said, glaring his eyes back at me. "Does it worry you? Does it scare you? That you will lose? You will lose without making one shot."

"Ricky, it's a game." I said, watching him down the rest of his beer. "Does it really matter if I lose?"

"Yeees." He said in a creepy voice, dragging it out before he lead it into a laugh. "Hahaha!" He cackled. "I'm sorry, man." He said, still with a slight hint of chaos in his voice. "You see what beer does to me sometimes?"

"No not really." I laid the pool stick against the wall. "You still seem like an idiot to me."

"Hmph. That'll change soon enough." He lined up another shot, this time putting a lot of power behind it. The ball hit the wall of the table, bouncing off and hitting the 6-ball, sinking it into the pocket and recoiling the cue-ball back, making it strike the 7-ball and sink it as well. "Lets see, lets see." Ricky said, walking around the table. "8-ball in side pocket." He pointed as he lined up the shot. Once again, the striped balls were in the way, but this time his shot was all the way to the other side of the table. _If he were to jump that, he would have to jump pretty much the entire table._ And sure enough, he did. He struck the cue-ball, making it fly up into the air, soaring over all the other balls and hitting the 8-ball on the other side of the table. The 8-ball rolled slowly to the pocket, and fell in.

"Well, looks like you won." I said, leaving my stick against the wall as I turned to walk away.

"No. This isn't over." Ricky said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. He spun me around, glaring with his devilish eyes into mine. "There's one more thing I have to do." He reached into this long black and red jacket/shirt, holding his hand in what looked like an inside shirt pocket.

"Get your hands off me." I said brushing him off. I turned to walk away again when he spoke up.

"I have to end this."

"End what?" I laughed, turning around to see him holding something in his hand.

"End this burning pain I have had since Cinnabar." He smiled a toothy smile again, as he brought his hand into the light. "I have to beat you." I looked down at his hand as it came into the dim light of the pool hall. In his hand his fingers wrapped around something, something black.

"Is that the stupid pool ball again?" I asked.

"Yes." He flicked his head to the side, making his hair swoosh as he laid the ball down on the table. "And I have to beat you, to regain my dignity."

"Really? I didn't know you ever had any." I laughed, turning to walk away. "I'm going to go battle the gym leader now, so if you need me just wait in the pokecenter, I'll stop in there once I'm done."

"Yeah… sure." Ricky said as I left. He placed the black ball on the table, lining up his last shot. "I'll have my dignity back. Once I dispose of you." He shot the ball, sinking it into the same corner pocket that he sunk the first 8-ball in. "And down he goes."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I stopped in the pokecenter first, picking up Pichu from where I left him in the room before I went out with Ricky. I knew that since we were going to be playing pool Pichu would want to join in, and that wouldn't work out very well. I could just picture the sight of the little mouse running after every ball on the table whenever it was hit. _Yeah, that wouldn't have worked out very well. _

After I picked him up I headed back out, making my way to the other side of town where the gym was. This town was strange, kind of hard to get used to in a way. There were houses around the pokecenter, a mart, a radio tower that turned out to be a Rocket hideout, and a gym, but that wasn't the strange part. _Sure, not every town has a Rocket hideout in it, but most towns would have people, right?_ _So far, the only people that I have seen walking around were the few trainers in the pokecenter. I haven't seen anyone that looked like they were local. Every person I have seen was wearing a belt with pokeballs on them, had a pokedex, or something of that kind._

I shook my head as I opened the door to the gym. "I don't need to worry about any of that stuff now. The sooner I beat this guy, the soon I can head on out of here, and find out who is stealing my pokemon."

When I opened the door a blast of cold air hit me hard. It was cold, very cold, almost blistering. It was almost as if I had just stepped into a deep freezer at my old fast food job. _It feels about as cold. If I remember correctly, they always kept it at 10 below._

"Pii!" Pichu whined as the cold air hit his face. He scurried around my shoulders, trying to find a warm spot, but then jumped in my book bag instead. I turned my head, watching as he dug out his leather jacket and goggles, putting them on and climbing back up on my shoulder. "Pii…" He sighed happily as he nuzzled in his warm jacket.

"Hey, that's a good idea." I said, reaching my hand back to the side pocket of my bag. I unzipped it, and pulled out the item holder that held my bike gear. "Wearing just a button up shirt isn't the smartest idea when you're going to be fighting an ice gym, huh?"

I opened the item holder on the ground as I took off my bag and sat Pichu on the ground beside me. He jumped a little when his feet hit the frozen icy ground, and then scurried onto my book bag.

I chucked at him as I slipped on the jacket over my forest green button up shirt and tie. I zipped it up half way, and then put on my biker gloves as well. Unlike most biker gloves, however, these gloves actually had fingers, which really helps for cold places like this.

"Well, Pichu." I said, picking my bag back up and slipped it over my shoulders. "You ready to go?"

"Pi!" Pichu smiled, running up my pant leg and scurrying over to my shoulder. "Pi, Pi-chu!"

"Good." I chuckled, taking the black sunglasses off that Bill gave me. "Then lets go find the gym leader." I looked back up in front of us as I closed the door. With the sunglasses on I couldn't really make out anything, but with them off I could see everything now. Ice was all over the floor, walls, ceiling, and pretty much everything in the hallway we were in. Snow was some how falling inside the building. _I'm guessing there is probably a snow ventilation system in here somewhere that circulates the snow from the floor to the ceiling. That's the only way I could think that snow could be falling without it building up._

I walked down the hallway, slipping and sliding on the icy floor. It was slick, very slick, I didn't even know how I was able to make it to the door on the other end, but some how I did.

I stood up, inspecting the door and seeing a knob that was all but frozen. I placed my hand on it, turning it and watching as shards of ice fell to the floor. The knob turned, and the door opened, showing yet another hallway covered in ice with another door at the end of it. The only thing different about this hall, however, was the massive sharp rocks that were jetting out of the floor, which were also covered in ice.

"Oh come on." I said, looking out at the hallway. "Not only do we have ice to worry about but now we have rocks too?" I looked down to the floor. "But wait… I'm not standing on ice now." I was still in the doorway, and to my amazement, there was no ice under my feet. I looked a few feet ahead of me, seeing that the doorstep I was standing on was actually about a foot higher than the main floor of the place, which had about a foot of ice resting on it. This, however, made the ice come up to just under the doorstep. "I see." I said with a smile. "The gym is an optical illusion which makes it look like one solid ice structure, but it's really only a foot deep swimming pool that has been frozen over."

"Pi?" Pichu asked, looking at my confused through his fogged up goggles. He shook his head, taking off his goggles and rubbing the lenses with his little paw, trying to get some of the ice off of them.

"Well then, if it is just a swimming pool, why don't we surf across it?" I pulled off a pokeball from around my belt. "Go, Gyarados!"

The ball flew out of my hand and out came the massive serpent. He was so big though that he barely fit in the room. In fact, the only way he fit in the room was laying down flat, having his tail in front of me and his head near the door at the end.

"Gyarrr!" He called out.

"Well… um…" I looked at him, laying down making a bridge for us over the ice. "I was going to have you melt the ice and surf across, but I guess this will do fine." I looked over to Pichu as I put one foot on Gyarados's back. "Hang on little bud, I don't have very good balance."

"Pi, Pi…" He said as he climbed up on my head, gripping on to some of my short brown hair for support.

When he was set, I slowly began to walk across Gyarados's back. He shook a little when I stepped on one of his loose scales, almost making me fall, but I regained my balance and continued to walk. When I got to the other side I jumped off of him, and turned to face him. "Sorry about that, bud. I didn't think I would have to use you as a bridge." I placed a hand on his face and gave him a little scratch around his neck, which made him give a toothy grin.

"Gyar, Gyar." He smiled, wagging his tail making some ice shatter when his tail hit the ground.

"Okay." I laughed, looking behind him at the shattered ice and dented in walls. _Man, I hope I don't have to pay for that._ "Don't worry, I'll bring you back out later. I'm going to need your help with this gym leader."

"Dos." He nodded as I placed his pokeball to his face, sucking him back inside. _These things really are amazing. Being able to contain a 500 pound, 21 foot pokemon in just a hand held device. _I put his ball back on my belt as I walked to the other door. I placed my hand on the knob, which once again, just like the other room, was frozen over.

I turned it, making ice fall to the floor, but the door wouldn't budge. I turned the knob again, making sure I was turning it the right way, but it still wouldn't move. _I wonder if it is frozen shut? _"Well, I guess there is only one way to find out." I turned the knob all the way, keeping one hand on it as I stepped back a few feet. I put all my weight on one leg; slamming into the door and making it swing open. Ice shards went everywhere from the frozen door, and as they fell to the ground, so did I. When I put all my weight into that slam I lost my balance, falling to the icy floor.

Pichu, being on my shoulder when I fell, tumbled off me and slid across the floor. "Piii!" He laughed happily as he slid on the ice before coming to an abrupt stop. His back had slid into something, almost like a frozen wall, but when he looked up he saw it was something else. "Piii!" He screamed as he tried to scurry on the ice, but to no avail. He just ended up falling all over himself.

"Pichu…" I put my hands to the ice below me, pushing myself up so I could look in front of me. Pichu was running in place, slipping and sliding trying to get away from a man whom was sitting on a throne made of solid ice.

His hair was gray, well, more like silver, with spots that looked like bed head. He didn't have much hair, but it was obvious that the little bit he did have he let grow long. His face was old and wrinkly. His eyes were open, almost into slits, much like the expression I saw Ricky with only moments ago. He looked angry, and none too pleased to see me.

"And whom do I owe this acquaintance too?" The man said as he stood out of his throne. He was wearing a blue trench coat with the collar popped, and a long white scarf that drapped loosely on him.

"I am Kyle Gray." I said, picking Pichu up when he finally slid back over to me. "And I have come here for a gym battle."

"Ah, yes." The man said, tilting his neck and popping it. "I have heard about you from the other leaders. It would appear as if you only have two more badges to receive to complete your collection. Tell me, do you think you can defeat me, Pryce, the 'Ice Cold Gym Leader'?"

"Well, like you said." I closed my eyes as I crossed my arms, putting a smile on my face. "I only have two badges left, and since I'm here, I'm pretty sure I mean to get one from you."

"Hmph." Pryce smiled, closing his eyes as well. "Your arrogance will make you that much more of a pleasure to defeat." He then opened his eyes, looking at me as I opened mine. "I have fought countless trainers, several pokemon masters, had have even won both the Kanto and Johto Leagues. I will not be as easy to defeat as those, children, before me." He winced as he said 'children', implying the previous gym leaders.

"But, even you admit, you _can_ be defeated." I smiled, holding onto a pokeball in my hand. "Who cares if it will be easy or not. I'll do it."

"What a pleasure, a pleasure indeed." Pryce then reached into his trench coat, pulling out a pokeball as he threw it onto the icy field that sat between us. The snow was still falling as a Dewgong slid on the ice.

"I thought you would use something like that." I said, throwing out Gyarados's pokeball. "Go, Gyarados!"

"Garrr!" The massive serpent roared as he slithered on the ice. This room was much bigger then the hallway we were just in, so he had plenty of room to move around in.

"I shall begin this." Pryce spoke as he sat back down on his throne. "Dewgong, finish this fast. Use, Blizzard."

"Not good." I said as I watched Dewgong began to charge up for the attack. _I could use flamethrower, but I really want to use that as a surprise attack. _"Alright, Gyarados! Hyper Beam!"  
Gyarados quickly formed an orb of light in his mouth as Dewgong released the wave of ice shards and snow at him, but no sooner than the attack left Dewgong, Gyarados's Hyper Beam was charged. A bright light shot through the snowy ice, striking into Dewgong, making it fly back in recoil, hitting the wall behind it. But the powerful attack didn't stop the snow, and Gyarados was hit as well. He winced in the cold as ice began to form on his left side, almost covering over his body. When the attack was over Gyarados shook madly, trying to get the ice off of him as Pryce recalled his Dewgong.

"Not good." I said, looking at Gyarados as he breathed hard. _His body is almost completely covered in ice, and Hyper Beam does take a lot out of him. I don't know how much longer he can last._

"Very impressive, as well as quick." Pryce said, standing as he reached into his trench coat again, bringing out another pokeball. "The Dewgong you just fought had evolved only moments before you came. This one, however," he said, throwing out another Dewgong. "This one has been in my party for quite some time. It will be much more difficult to defeat."

"Great…" I looked over at Gyarados. _He's not going to be out there much longer, and he was really the only hope I had. Dragonite wouldn't last one minute against an ice pokemon, Arcanine or Magcargo against a water type isn't a good idea. Kabutops would only want to hug them, and Pichu's electric attacks wouldn't do much damage unless the ice was mel-_ "That's it!"

"Dewgong!" Pryce said calmly. "Ice Beam."

"Gyarados!" I screamed. "Give it your biggest Flamethrower!" As I said this, I saw Pryce smile.

Dewgong let out a beam of ice that shot towards Gyarados at lighting speed. Gyarados was also quick on the draw, blasting a stream of fire back at Dewgong, one almost as big as the ones Arcanine shoots. The flames engulfed the Ice Beam, turning it into water, as well as the icy floor they were standing on. Dewgong was hit hard with the fire attack, burning it bad. All the ice in the room, including the mass on Gyarados, began to melt with the extreme heat from the attack, turning the ice field into a water field.

"So that was the fire attack I heard of." Pryce said, clapping his hands. "I am quite impressed. Jasmine said you caught her off guard, and I can see why. Very nifty trick, if I do say so myself, teaching a water pokemon a fire type move. But," Pryce then looked at me again with his slanted eyes. "Tricks won't win you this battle. Dewgong! Hyper Beam!"

"Gyarados! Shoot it right back!"

Dewgong jumped out of the water, its mouth glowing with a yellow light as it shot out the massive beam at Gyarados. Gyarados was still charging up his attack when the beam hit him, making him release it prematurely, which caused it to do little to no damage to Dewgong. Gyarados fell to the floor, making a wave of water as he hit, knocked out.

"Alright." I said, recalling Gyarados. "Plan B." I looked over to Pichu, who was on my shoulder, still wearing his little goggles and jacket. "Your turn, bud."

"Pi!" He said happily as he ran down my shoulder, standing on the edge of the field, outside of the water. "Now!" I said. "Double Team!"

"Pi!" Before I could blink the room was covered in Pichus. Dewgong, not knowing what to make of it, was looking around dumbfounded and confused.

Pryce, who began to catch on, screamed to Dewgong. "Dewgong, don't look at them! You're getting dizzy and confused!" But it was too late. Dewgong was already swaying back and forth, almost loosing its balance.

"Now!" I screamed. "Get in there and use Thunder Bolt!"

"No! No!" Pryce said. "Dewgong, Blizzard, now!"

All the Pichus in the room began to jump and vanish, only leaving one that hit the water. As soon as Pichu was in the pool he let out a mass of electricity which surged through the water field, shocking Dewgong bad. Dewgong, still charging for the Blizzard attack, released it only moments before being knocked out. The attack froze the water, trapping Pichu in the ice from the neck down.

"Pi! Pi-chu!" Pichu cried as Pryce recalled his Dewgong. "Pi! Pichu, Pichu, Pichu!" He squirmed, trying to break free of the ice, but couldn't budge.

"Amusing strategy." Pryce said. "I can see how you have made it this far into the league."

"Strategy?" I laughed. "I just take it as it comes. If there is one thing I have learned in my travels it is to never rely on anything, because you will always get hurt in the end. Just take it as it comes and make it work."

"I would love to ponder on such matters with a young mind such as yours, but, alas, I have a battle to win. And your Pichu is next on my list." He reached in his pocket as he brought out a pokeball. "Go, Piloswine!"

I watched the massive hairy elephant thing appear in front of me, slowly making his way to the frozen Pichu who was crying out. "Pi! Pi! Pichu!"

"Wait!" I said, running onto the field.

"What are you doing, boy?" Pryce demanded in a hateful way.

"My Pichu doesn't use a pokeball, so I cant recall him." I then reached for the pokeball around my neck. "So I am returning him and replacing him with another one."

"Do as you wish." Pryce said. "But that would make this battle a one on one now. Is that understood?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I released Aranine on the field beside Pichu. "Hey boy, I need you to unfreeze Pichu, okay?"

"Arf!" He barked happily, letting loose a small Heat Wave attack that only melted the ice around Pichu.

"Pi!" Pichu said happily, climbing out of the now melted ice hole and hugging Arcanine on the paw. "Pi-cha!" He then ran over to me, climbing back up on my shoulder.

"Enough." Pryce said. "Get back on your side or forfeit the match. I refuse to wait anymore."

"Fine." I said, skating with my shoes back over to my side.

"Now, to continue." Pryce then took a fighting stance. "Piloswine! Blizzard attack!"

"Arcanine! Extreme Speed!"

Piloswine let out a wave of ice and snow that flew right at Arcanine. Arcanine stood strong for the attack, extending his claws for grip on the slick ice as he ran to the left, dodging the blast. Piloswine saw him move, and like a heat-seeking missile, it locked onto him again. Arcanine dodged to the left again, jumping on the wall and jumping off into the air, over the attack. He landed behind Piloswine, who was to slow to turn around before I issued the next attack.

"Flare Blitz!"

Arcanine was covered in a mass of fire and flames, forming a ball around him as he ran into Piloswine, burning the hairs off of its right side. The attack was so powerful that is spun Piloswine around, making him face Arcanine.

"Now!" Pryce screamed. "Fury Attack!"

Arcanine was still on fire, plowing away at Piloswine as it began to thrust its tusk at him. The tusk pierced into his skin, leaving gouges in Arcanine's side.

"Arcanine!" I screamed, watching as blood began to fall on the ice below. "Extreme Speed back!"

Arcanine jumped back, skidding on the floor as his claws dug into the ice. He then ran to the right, jumping over Piloswine's attacks and leaping onto the wall again, bouncing back on the ground and sliding to a stop over beside me.

While Piloswine was getting turned around I looked at Arcanine. His front right leg was bleeding badly; I could see where the tusk had went right into his leg. "Arcanine…" I asked. "Are you okay, boy?"

"Arf…" He huffed, acting like it didn't hurt at all, but I knew it did.

"You are very resourceful." Pryce commended. "Using the walls to your advantage like that, not many trainers would think of anything that out of the ordinary."

"Like I said," I focused back to him. "I take it as it comes. Arcanine! Flamethrower!"

"Piloswine, Earthquake!"

As Piloswine lifted up his foot I yelled to Arcanine, "On the ground! Now!"

Arcanine redirected his aim as he shot out the massive fire attack. The flames hit the ground, turning the ice into water and pushing him into the air. Piloswine slammed his foot down, making the leftover ice crumble beneath his feet, but with Arcanine being in the air, it dealt no damage.

"Now!" I screamed as Arcanine was airborne. "Your biggest Heat Wave!"

"Rrrraaaaaaarr!" Arcanine roared, letting out a wave of heat that was almost so hot it was blinding. I closed my eyes, covering my face with my arm, trying to shield myself from the nearly unbearable heat that was emanating from Arcanine. I then heard a splash, and felt the heat dissipate. Slowly I opened my eyes to see Arcanine standing in two foot of water, towering over the knocked out Piloswine.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Good." Conner said as he sat in the woods behind the radio tower in Mahogany. The police were already doing their investigation of the building, but with him being in the woods, he could easily make an escape, if needed.

"This is great." He said again, checking all the stats on his computer. "Kyle is playing right into my hands. It won't be long now until I will have Mew Three, and my revenge." He looked up from the woods when something caught his eye. Outside of the gym walked Kyle, heading up to the Pokecenter beside the radio tower.

"Well, well, what timing." Conner said as he hit the send key on two emails. "It looks like it's about time for the show to start."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I walked into the pokeceneter with Pichu on my shoulder. The room was still filled with trainers, but it didn't have as many in it as last time. There was a path that was cleared to the front desk, so I took it.

"Oh, hello Mr. Gray." Joy said with a smile. "How did the Gym match go?"

"Good." I said, pulling off the pokeball from my necklace and one from my belt, laying them and Pichu on the counter. "Could you please check on them?" I then pointed to Arcanine's pokeball. "And give Arcanine a full examination. His arm was hurt pretty bad."

"Alright, will do." She smiled as she turned to walk back in the back with Pichu and the pokeballs in her arms. "Oh yes, Mr. Gray?" Joy asked, turning to face me again. "There was a man that called you not too long ago. He said his name was Bill and it was urgent. Does that mean anything to you?"

"Bill called?" I asked. "When?"

"Actually only a few moments before you walked in." She then nodded to the computers over in the corner. "You may call him back using one of those computers. I will call for you when your pokemon are ready." She then turned and walked into the back of the center.

I ran over to the PCs, shoving people out of my way to get to a free computer. I sat down, plugging in my information as well as a phone number. The phone program rang only once before Bill picked up. "Kyle?" He asked, then continued. "Kyle! It happened again!"

"Again?" I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Check your email." He said, glancing off screen. He was wearing his reading glasses, and in the reflection I could see his laptop screen pulled up with some pictures on it. "You just received two more emails from your mother, but I have been monitoring your mother's emails, she hasn't sent any all day."

"Hang on, I'll check." I opened up the PC program, plugging in my information again and then checking my mail. Just as Bill said, I have two new messages from Mom.

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray**_

_**Subject: Retrieval Needed**_

_**Pokemon Number: 2165092 – Name: Dragonite – needs to be sent immediately. Transfer as reply to message.**_

I clicked on the next one.

_**Message From:**_

_**Debbie Gray**_

_**Subject: Retrieval Needed**_

_**Pokemon Number: 3137959 – Name: Kabutops – needs to be sent immediately. Transfer as reply to message.**_

"Is there any way you can track where it came from?" I asked.

"That's the thing, I tried, and every time it comes up with the IP address of your mother."

"Then what do I do?"

He was silent for a while, but then spoke up as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose. "Well, there are two things I can do. The first is I could try to monitor where the pokeball goes by tracking it through the PC via IP addresses. This would be the most furtive way of discovering how your account became compromised."

"English, please." I said annoyed. _I knew I could understand him under normal circumstances, but now I was too emotional to even try._

"I can try to see where it goes." He said, putting it in laymen's terms.

"Alright, and the second?"

"Well, the second is more or less the same, but instead I would send you a tracking device, in which you would put on the pokeball, and then we could get an exact reading on where they were anywhere in the world."

"Well then lets do that." I said, reacted quickly as I reached for Kabutops. _I hated to do this, but if it boiled down to it Dragonite would last a lot longer in a fight than Kabutops could. That is, if I need to fight to get my pokemon back._

"Kyle, wait."

"What? What's wrong?" I looked at him concerned as he took a deep breath.

"Kyle, there is a very distinct chance that this person, or persons, do not know that you are catching on. If we send a tracking device attached to a pokeball then they will know that you know, and might do something rash."

"So you're telling me that I need to take a chance and try to let you track it on your own?" I took a deep breath as I looked at Kabutops's pokeball. "Are you sure, Bill? Are you sure that this will work?"

"I am 95% sure that I can track it wherever it goes, and 75% positive I can pinpoint their exact location."

I looked back up to the PC, taking another deep breath as I placed the pokeball on the transfer unit. "Bill…"

"Are you ready?" Bill asked.

"Will I get my pokemon back?" I looked at him, as he gave me a glum look. "I see." I closed my eyes. "Alright." I said. "Get ready."

"Ready whenever you are."

I opened my eyes, moving the mouse over to the 'send' button. _I'm so sorry Kabutops._

I clicked the button on the mouse and heard a 'Ding" as the email sent. I looked at the screen as a series of codes and numbers flashed in the reflection of Bill's glasses, then, they vanished.

"Hmm…" Bill groaned.

"What? What is it?" I asked, almost jumping at the screen.

"Well, I found that they were using an IP scrambler. The codes jumped ubiquitously. It was almost like it was being converted from one forma-"

"God, Bill! Where the heck did it go?" I screamed as well as lunged at the screen. I looked around, noticing people looking at me as I sat back down.

"I…" He paused. "I couldn't get a clear read on it."

"You what?" I grit my teeth as I tried to keep my temper. "You mean I just sent my Kabutops to the thief for nothing?"

"No, not nothing." I watched as he punched in some keys on his computer. "Even though I didn't get a clear read on it, I did indeed get a read. Turns out your Kabutops was sent somewhere between Blackthorn City and Pewter City."

I stared at the screen blankly. "Wow, Bill… that's a lot of help." I said sarcastically as I held up Dragonite's Pokeball. "Now, send me over the tracking device."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Conner was still sitting outside of the pokecenter on his computer. It wasn't but ten or fifteen minutes ago that he sent Kyle the email, and he knew that he would have sent the pokemon to his lair by now.

"This is perfect." He chuckled in a maniacal way. "The rebellion against me is behind bars, Mew Three is receiving his final components, and on top of that I will be able to kill that bothersome child shortly."

He brought up some charts, as well as a visual 3D image of Mew Three. "Perfect." He smiled as the image rotated on the screen. Though it was rendered in a green vectorized illustration, Mew Three seemed to have components of all the pokemon that Conner had combined his DNA with. It had Beedrill's abdomen, a set of Pidgeot wings on it's lower back, Scizor's arms and hands attached to it's lower stomach, Umbreon's feet and claws, Raticate's tail, Primeape's fur over it's head which was developing rocky scales from the newly added Kabutops, and forming a second set of arms with swords from him as well. It was also covered in a red tint, like that of Typhlosion and was developing another set of wings from the fresh Dragonite that Kyle just send only moments ago.

"With all these pokemon Mew Three will be unbeatable, and trainable." Conner laughed again. "The power of psychic, dark, bug, flying, dragon, poison, normal, fighting, steel, and fire! With that power nothing will stop me! Nothing! And that is not counting in those Rare Candies that I fused with the bio-fluid it is in. With that mixture I wont need to implant my pokemon anymore, with that fluid, it would be the same as them getting 100 rare candies everyday they are alive."

Conner began laughing again, but this time he was interrupted by a window that began to flash on his computer. "Hmph." He smirked as he looked at the screen. "Well, well. Poor Richard has something to report." He clicked the button watching as Richard's face appeared on the screen.

"Conner!" He gasped, out of breath. "The last pokemon, the Dragonite, it had a tracking device on it!"

"Hmm… I see." Conner then put a finger to his chin as he removed his white mask, stuffing it back into the backpack he was carrying. "Richard."

"Yes?"

"Get the cell block prepared for a guest." He reached for the lid, but before shutting it he said something else. "Oh yes, also prepare Mew Three for extraction."

"But, Conner." Richard said, grabbing some papers as he read the data. "Mew Three will take at least another three weeks before it can sustain its own life. Its organs cannot function properly unless it is held within the bio-fluid!"

"Well I suggest you get a move on it then. You have 5 hours to get it ready. And Richard…"

"Yes?"

"Do not, I repeat, NOT, disappoint me again." Conner then shut the lid. He looked back up to the Center as he put his computer in his backpack. "So, Kyle is finally catching on. Took him long enough."

***_-Scene Change-_***

I had just sent Dragonite through the PC with the tracking device Bill sent me attached to her.

"Hmm…" Bill said as I heard a beeping sound come from the other end. "Interesting."

"What? What is it?"

"Well, Kyle. I don't know how this would be possible, but they are being transferred to somewhere in Mount Silver." Bill then started typing. "Yep, it was definitely in Mount Silver."

"Do you know where at in Mount Silver?" I asked. "I mean, it's a pretty big mountain, I can even see it from my home in Viridian."

"No, that's the thing. I was tracking it at light speed, and as soon as it hit Mount Silver I lost the signal." I saw some numbers flash in his glasses. "If it simply passed through Mount Silver I would have tracked it coming out the other side, but it sto-" Bill then went quiet, and so did the beeping noise. "Crap."

"What?" I asked, but Bill didn't say anything. "What?" I asked again.

"Kyle, my feed was just cut." He then glanced away from the computer he was working on and back to me. "They found it. They know that you know. I couldn't get a precise reading on where it was because of the mountain topography blocking my transmission, but it was definitely sent to Mount Silver."

"Alright." I said as I stood up. "Thanks Bill."

"Kyle! Wait!" Bill called out.

I turned to look back at the computer. "What, what is it?"

"What kind of a plan do you have?" He asked. "These people are probably ruthless, and they don't want to get caught. If they would go through the trouble of stealing your pokemon like this, who knows what they would do to you if you busted in on their operation."

"Hmph." I smiled. "My plan?"

"Yes, please tell me you have a plan."

"My plan is I'm going to go in there, have Arcanine burn their faces off, and get my pokemon back. That's my plan."

"Kyle!" Bill pleaded. "Please don't go in there alone! Just wait, let us figure something out!"

"Sorry, Bill, I can't hear you." I said moving the mouse over to the close button. "I'm going through a tunnel, I'm losing you."

"Tunnel?" He looked at me dumbfounded. "You're at a Pokecenter! You can't go through a-" With that I closed down the program.

"Ahh." I sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to do… but I'd better get there fast."

"Where you going?" Someone asked. I jumped, spinning around to see Ricky standing behind me looking at me with his head tilted sideways. "Well?"

"Nowhere." I answered, logging off my account.

"Mr. Gray," Joy spoke from behind the counter. "Your pokemon are read-red-re-" She stuttered as she looked at Ricky. "Oh Ricky, you look great!"

"Oh, thanks baby." He said with a smile as he walked up to the counter. He made her drop the tray of my two pokeballs and Pichu as he touched under her chin. "I'm sorry to tell you though, we can't stay here any longer."

I rolled my eyes, picking up Arcanine's pokeball from the counter and snapping it back on my necklace as Pichu climbed up my shoulder. "Pi! Pichu!"

"But why not?" Joy pleaded.

"Well, me and Mr. Gray are going to Mount Silver for a little bit."

"Wait…" I said under my breath as I placed Gyarados's pokeball on my belt. _I didn't tell him anything about Mount Silver._

"Ohhh!" She whined. "When will you be coming back?"

"I don't know baby." He said as he pulled her into a deep kiss, keeping his hand on her face the whole time. He pulled away, leaving her with a flush as we walked out the door.

"So." I said, looking at him oddly as the Pokecenter doors closed behind us. "Mount Silver, huh?"

"Well that's what you said, right?" He asked, looking at me with a smile as we walked out of the town.

I followed him as he led me off the path, heading down a hill and through a thick patch of forest. "Where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep up.

"Mount Silver." He laughed. "Don't tell me you already forgot where you wanted to go!"

_It would be better if I told you where I wanted to go._

"But don't worry." He looked back with a smile. "I know this place like the back and front of Nurse Joy. This is a short cut."

"Nice analogy." I said, rolling my eyes.

A few hours later the woods began to thin out, and we came to this massive lake. Ricky then stopped, stretched, and looked back to me. "Well?" He motioned to me. "Come on."

"Come on, what?" I asked.

"Ahh…" He sighed. "Bring out your Gyarados so we can get to Mount Silver."

"Yeah… sure." I watched him out of the corner of my eye, making sure he didn't make any funny moves as I reached for the pokeball on my belt. _It was a pretty strange feeling, only having three pokeballs on your belt when you know you own 14 total._

I threw Gyarados out on the water as we climbed on his back.

"Sweet!" Ricky said as Gyarados swam across the water. "I never thought I would be able to ride on the back of a Gyarados! This is so awesome!"

"So how far away is this?" I asked, looking back to him. "We were walking for about three hours, so how long do we have to surf?"

"Well, turn around and see." Ricky said, pointing ahead. The lake we were in was actually a gulf, and as we went through the narrow passageway to the bigger body of water I could see the massive mountain range that was previously hidden by the foliage of the forest.

"I give you, Mount Silver." Ricky said as he stood behind me. I saw his arm point ahead of us to a cave in the side of the mountain. "Have your Gyarados swim in there." He said. "That is a passageway most people don't know about."

"And how do you know about it?" I asked, watching as we swam into the cave. The light was outside began to fade away, and soon we were in complete dark.

"How do I know about it?" Ricky asked in a sinister voice. "Because of my father."

After he said that I felt a sharp pain in the back of my neck. My eyes rolled back into my head and I could feel my face go numb. _I know this feeling._ I felt my body hit the ice-cold water below. _This is the same way I started this journey, only, a different kind of storm._ Slowly, I felt the air come out of my lungs, and I saw nothing but black.


	23. Conner, Unmasked

**Chapter 22**

**Conner, Unmasked**

I woke up, feeling lips pressing against mine as I spat up some liquid that was in my lungs. I coughed, rolling over to my side vomiting as I gagged.

"I got him!" I heard a woman's voice say. "I got him! He's awake!"

I couldn't make out anything, my vision was still impaired, all I could see was flashes of color and a blurry object in front of me. I could feel my glasses were not on my face, which probably had something to do with seeing only fuzzy images.

"Rachel!" I heard a man scream. "His vitals! I think we're losing him!"

"Oh, God." The woman said again as I felt her lips press on mine again, but this time, I felt my body go limp and I saw only black again.

***_-Scene Change-_***

I opened my eyes, seeing a beautiful blue sky above me with white clouds that drifted by almost whimsically. _What was going on?_ I rose up, holding my head as I looked around. I was in a field, a field of sunflowers. "This is so strange." I said, surveying the field. All around me, as far as I could see was sunflowers with Butterfrees floating around them, dancing and singing a beautiful song. But then something else caught my attention, a voice.

"Kyle!" She cried out.

I turned around, looking at a small figure in the distance as she ran towards me. _I would know that voice anywhere. It's her! I know it is!_ "Shonna!" I screamed, raising myself to my feet as I ran towards her. Soon I saw her face clear as I saw the Butterfree that were humming around her. Her beautiful blonde hair blew in the wind, her face, flushed with a smile on it, her eyes, just as blue and beautiful as the first time I laid eyes on her. She ran towards me as I ran towards her. Her sky blue dress blew in the wind as she came closer to me.

"Oh Kyle!" She said as we fell into each other's arms.

"Shonna!" I screamed, tears running down my face. I hugged her tighter and tighter. I held her close, feeling her face brush against mine as she pulled away.

"Kyle…" She said in a hesitant way.

I looked deep into her eyes. "I love you."

"I know you do…" She spoke as she turned away from me. I looked at her dumbfounded and confused, watching a gust of wind come up and blow her hair and dress to one side. She then turned her head around to look at me as a tear ran down her face. "Kyle…" She spoke calmly.

"Yes?" I asked, scared of what she would say.

"If you love me…" She then turned away again. "Then promise me something…"

"Anything, Shonna. Just name it." I walked closer to her as I placed my hand on her shoulder, but it passed straight through, almost like she was a hologram.

"Promise me you won't die. Not yet." She then turned to face me. It was then that I could see her eyes filled with tears. "If you die I will never be able to hear you say that. Please, don't die!"

As soon as she said that I saw everything get black. It was as if a black hole appeared in the field, and everything began to be sucked into it. I saw Shonna began to be pulled away from me. "Shonna!" I screamed, reaching out for her. "Shonna! Please don't go! I love you!"

"Then tell me." She said as she was consumed by the darkness. "Please, tell me."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Articuno's eyes opened wide. She was in the holographic room in the Cinnabar Research Lab. _Something's not right._ She looked to the people glancing in at her. They looked shocked, confused, but she knew it wasn't for the same reason she was. They were only concerned about her. She could read their minds, and she knew that it was something about the feed she was giving off to those blasted machines.

_Something's wrong._ She closed her eyes, concentrating hard. _Something is happening. Something is…_ she then found what she was looking for.

Her eyes shot open as she spread her wings. _That stupid fool! _"BRAaaaa!" _I told him! I told him! _"Braaa! Braaa! Braaaaa!" She then flapped her wings as she shot a beam of ice through the ceiling, causinga massive hole to appear in the roof.

She flew up into the air, looking around. _Where is he, where is he?_ She then locked on to him, turning her attention to Mount Silver far in the distance. _I'm coming Kyle!_

***_-Scene Change-_***

My eyes shot open as I rolled over in the cell. "Shonna!" I screamed out. "Shonna! Shonna! Don't leave me! Shonna!" I curled up on the cold rock below me, sobbing as tears ran down my face. "I love you…" It was then that I had realized that I had woken up. I tried to stand, almost falling over by my clothes being drenched in cold water. I looked around. I was in a cell, a stone prison cell. There were no windows in it at all, only a massive door with iron bars over it. I ran over to the door, looking out and seeing two guards in Rocket uniforms standing on either side of me.

"About time you woke up." One of them spat.

"Yeah, I was getting sick of hearing about _'Shonna'_ or whatever her name was."

"You had better get me out of this cell!" I screamed.

"Or what, shrimp?" The guard to my left said as he kicked my fingers that were latched onto the bars. i flinched, but didn't pull them away as he continued. "What is a little twerp like you going to do?"

"I'll show you." I grit my teeth as I reached for the pokeball around me neck, but it wasn't there. _What?_ I ran my hand over my belt only to find it empty. I then glanced around the cell, Pichu was gone too. "What did you do?" I screamed at them. "Where are my pokemon?"

"Like I'm going to tell you." The guard on the right said as he took a stick that was laying on the ground in his hand, shoving it through the opening in the bars making it strike into my gut.

I fell over, grabbing my stomach as they both laughed.

"Stand down!" I heard a man scream. And when he did, the two guards jumped at attention.

_I know that voice._ I glanced up seeing a man in a white lab coat with glasses, looking at me on the floor in a heap of wet clothes.

"Conner wants him out of those clothes." He said as he threw me a Rocket uniform through the bars.

It was then that I realized who it was. _That is the same guy from earlier. The voice I heard … before my … dream._

"I don't think Conner really said that, Richard." The guard on the right spat.

"Yeah, you don't exactly have a clean record any more, mister 'rebellion'." The one of the left mocked.

"Then why don't I say that you two are part of my rebellion as well." He laughed. "I'm sure Conner would LOVE to hear that."

I looked down at the clothes as they all began to argue. It looked funny for it just to be a pile of clothes, it was lumpy and looked rather… oddly shaped. I picked up the stack of clothes and felt some things inside. One was round, one was making crunching noises and the other felt like some kind of metal. I glanced back up, seeing that Richard was doing a great job at distracting the guards as I looked inside the clothes. A smile came across my face as I saw what it hid. Two pokeballs, and not just any pokeballs, but Arcanine's and Gyarados's pokeballs, a set of keys, and a letter. I unfolded the letter and read it quickly.

_Your pokemon are being held in section A-1, AKA Conner's Lab. The keys are for your Pichu, he is down the hall. I'll tell you more once you break out._

_Richard_

I stuffed the paper in my pocket, glancing up to Richard to let him know I was done. When he saw me he nodded and then shouted at the guards again. "It doesn't matter anyway you grunts! I outrank you in everyway possible!" He then turned to walk away, heading down the dark cave like hall.

"Phft." The left guard spat again. "What a sack of hot air."

"Hot air, huh?" I said with a smile. "You all want hot air, you'll get it."

"I thought I told you to-" One of the guards said, spinning around before gasping as he saw the massive Arcanine standing beside me in my cell.

"Heat Wave!" I screamed, pointing at the door and guards as Arcanine let out a wave of heat that burned melted the bars in front of us, but stopped before hitting the guards. He also blasted some heat back to me, drying my clothes instantly.

"Oh yeah?" One of the guards said. "You think that is going to stop us?"

"Extreme Speed!" I commanded as Arcanine vanished, striking the guards at lighting speed, knocking them out instantly.

"Very nice job" I heard Richard say as he rounded the corner to my cell. "But come, you must hurry! Your pokemon's lives depend on it."

"Right." I nodded, jumping on Arcanine as we ran by him. When we did I reached down, grabbing him by the arm and pulled him up on Arcanine's back with me. "Now, where is Pichu?"

"About five minutes up." He pointed. "You are on the bottom floor, the basement of a mountain, if you will."

"Why did you help me?" I asked, looking back at him.

"I am Richard, head of…" he paused. "Was head of the rebellion before it was shut down."

"So?"

"So? I started a rebellion against Team Rocket." He then looked ahead as Arcanine leaped over people in Rocket uniforms. "I don't know if you noticed, but you are in the Team Rocket headquarters."

"Wow, really?" I said in a sarcastic way. "And here I thought I was in a cosplay-convention."

"Kyle, I need you." Richard said in a serious voice. "That's why my wife and I have risked everything to save you."

"Your wife?" _That must have been the person that gave me CPR._

"Yes. We are the last of the resistance, and we want out."

"What do you need me for?" I asked.

"The only way out now is for you to beat Conner. Normally that would be impossible because he implanted his pokemon with artificial intelligence units designed to modify their physical abilities."

"Pokemon trainer terms, please." I said annoyed.

"He put a microchip in them to make them invincible."

"If they are invincible then how do I beat him?"

"Normally you couldn't, but I have disabled the chips." Richard then pointed up ahead. "Down that hall!" Arcanine cut the corner, scrapping his claws on the rocks as we came to a stop. Inside a small metal crate was Pichu, sitting in ball crying.

"Pichu!" I screamed, jumping off Arcanine as I ran over to him.

I saw his ears jump up as he looked at me. His tears went away with a smile that went from cheek to cheek. "Pi! Pi-Chu!"

"Hang on." I said, shoving the key in the little door and turning the lock. As soon as I did Pichu leaped out of the box, hugging me tight as I dropped the box, wrapping my arms around him too. "Oh little bud, I'm so happy you're alright."

"Kyle, you might want to hurry it up." I heard Richard say. I turned around to see at least thirty Rocket guards and grunts running at us down the narrow hall.

"Alright." I ran up to Arcanine, jumping on his back. "Where to next?"

"A-1 is at the top floor." Richard said. "Just keep going up and we will get there."

"Fine by me." I smiled. "Arcanine, make some room."

"Arf!" With that he bolted down the hall, running right at the guards. They all stood strong, not budging. Arcanine went faster and faster, right up to the point where we were about the hit them, then he jumped, placing his paws on the right wall, and running on it over the guards heads. At the end he jumped down, sliding to a stop as he ran up the set of stairs and hallways that lead up.

"So." I asked Richard. "You said you had them disabled? The chips?"

"Yes, but it will only be disabled for an hour." He held onto me tight as Arcanine took a sharp turn. "That was about ten minutes ago. So if you want to make it out of here with your life you have fifty minutes to get to Conner and beat him."

_With my… life…_ The words echoed in my head as I remembered Shonna in the field of sunflowers. "With my life."

"There is something else you need to know." Richard said as we leaped over crates. "Your pokemon were being used to created something, something awful."

"How bad could it be?"

"With your pokemon Conner made a mutated… thing, that has every type, move, and ability that is possible all compressed in one being. Not only that, but he has been feeding it fluid made of Rare Candies 24-7 for the past 2 months."

"Great." I said sarcastically again. "So, I'm just wondering, do you have any good news for me?"

"You're alive." He said seriously. "Conner wants you dead, and he almost had it too, if it wasn't for Rachel."

"Dead?" I asked, looking back to him. "Why does he want me dead?"

"It's a long story."

"Well, we have time." I said, watching as Arcanine blasted a bunch of Rocket pokemon with a Fire Blast as we jumped over them. _I think they know we are coming; they are starting to have their pokemon ready before we even get to them._

"Conner wasn't always the leader of Team Rocket. First Giovanni was. After he went to jail then Dr. Conner took his place, but Dr. Conner died in a freak accident in Kanto when a cave fell in on him as he was out trying to capture-"

"An Articuno?" I asked as I started to piece everything together.

"Yes. And since Dr. Conner was dead, the role of Team Rocket leader went to his lunatic son, Conner." He paused, and then continued. "Do you see why he wants you dead? At first he just wanted your pokemon, but when he found out about your Articuno…"

"I know." I said, swallowing the lump was felt in my throat. "I killed him. It was my fault. I killed all those people."

"The cave in was an accident." Richard said, placing his hand on me. "There is no way possible that one person could do that on a whim." He then looked up ahead. "We are here."

I felt Arcanine slide to a stop as I looked up. In front of me was a large iron set of double doors engraved with the Rocked 'R' on it. I hopped off Arcanine as Pichu sat on my shoulder.

"Remember." Richard said. "You have about…" he checked his clock. "You now have thirty minutes. Make every second count."

"Yeah… thanks." I placed my hands on the doors, pushing them open as I walked inside the cold cave room. Inside I saw rows upon rows of liquid filled glass cylinders, all of which held one of my pokemon. I saw Umbreon, floating in the blue liquid. He looked at me with pain in his eyes. I felt my heart tug as all of them began to whine and whimper as they looked at me. Tears began to swell in my eyes as I gasped with every look they gave.

"Wonderful for you to join me." I heard someone say as a light turned on, beaming down over top of his throne. A man in a white mask, the same mask that I saw in Kanto at the Sea Foam Islands the day I got Articuno, sitting on the throne. "Tell me, do you like my handy work, Mr. Gray?"

"You… You…" I grit my teeth as tears ran down my face. My hands were clenched in fists as I grabbed the pokeball from my pocket. "I'll make you pay for what you have done!" I threw out Gyarados. "I will make you pay! Ricky Conner!"

"No, my dear friend." He said as he stood from his throne. "It is I…" He reached for his mask, taking it off and throwing it to the ground as he looked at me with his blood red eyes. "It is I who will make you pay."


	24. Conner's Worst

**Chapter 23**

**Conner's Worst**

His mask fell to the ground, striking the bedrock beneath his feet with a clang. His eyes were fixed on me, glaring in an evil way as his red hair fell down in front of his face. Though I had already figured it out, seeing Ricky behind the mask was still frightening. _Knowing the whole time that the leader of Team Rocket, the person calling all the shots, and the person stealing my pokemon, was right under my nose the whole time, and I didn't see it… What was I thinking?_

"It is I who will make you pay." He glared at me as he walked down from the platform that sat several feet above the ground I was standing on.

"How?" I asked, watching as he came closer to the open area in the cave that Gyarados was waiting in. "Richard said you wanted me dead. If you do then why didn't you leave me in the water? Why didn't you let me drown? It would have been easy."

"Oh you poor child." He cackled. "I took you as being more intelligent then those lackeys of mine." He reached into his pocket retrieving a remote and pushing a button on it. The ground shook, and I found myself tripping and bumping into the tube that held Umbreon, floating in the blue liquid. I stabled myself, looking up to see another tube, raising up from a hole that was in the ground, and gasped when I saw what was inside.

"There would be no fun in killing you now." Conner said as he walked behind the glass tube that held the deformed pokemon. "Instead, I want you to suffer. I will let you in on a little secret of mine. This..." He slammed his hand on the tube. "This is Mew Three!"

"Oh my gosh…" I couldn't do anything but look at the monster that floated in front of me in the biofluid. It had two sets of wings, four arms, one pair of which were swords. Legs, a stinger, and scales were all over it. It had a rock head with spikes, and was so thin that its bones and organs were visible through its stony, scaly skin.

"Do you like it?" Conner asked as he grinned.

"You're a monster." I said disgusted in him. "How could you do something like this?"

"It's easy." Conner crossed his arms. "And to make your death even more satisfying to me, I'm going to tell you everything." He glared at me again. "You are going to be killed by your very own pokemon."

"What?"

"A while back Giovanni paid for an excavation in Sinnoh to try to find a Mew fossil. When the scientist found it Giovanni put out some more money to Team Rocket biologists to come up with the necessary formulas to create a fully evolved, more powerful Mew. He called it, Mew Two." Conner then laughed. "But the stupid fool didn't calculate in the fact that Mew is a legendary pokemon, and legendary pokemon will never listen to humans. So, he paid my father, Dr. Conner to create a mind control machine to brainwash Mew Two."

"What does this have to do with me?" I asked impatiently, knowing that I only had a few minutes to beat Conner before his pokemon would be unstoppable again.

"Well, this is the part where you come in." He continued. "My father had already tested his invention on two other legendary pokemon, Zapdos and Moltres. The machine was built to go around their necks, but there was a flaw. If the machine was damaged, it would fall off and they would be under their own free will again. So, my father started testing something else, a beam instead of a collar, but somehow when he tested it on an Articuno the cave fell in." Conner then grit his teeth as he spoke. "We all thought it was a freak accident, but a few Rocket Grunts said that they saw a boy with brown hair, a girl with a side pony-tail, and an Arcanine right before the cave fell in." He then pointed to me. "You are the reason my father is dead. Ever since I saw that Articuno, I knew it was you." He then took a breath and continued his story. "And because my father died Giovanni wasn't able to get the mind control device in time, so Mew Two ended up blowing up the main Rocket headquarters, forcing him to take cover in an abandoned Gym in Viridian. Then, out of nowhere, a boy with brown hair, and a girl with blonde hair came in and busted him, sending him to jail on a life sentence."

"Alright, so I killed you're father, and put Giovanni in the slammer, why go through all this for that? Isn't it good that you're the leader of Team Rocket now? I'm sure that would look _great_ on a resume."

"Shut up you twit!" Conner spat. "After that the position of leader for Team Rocket did fall to me, but for what? That's all my father did was 'Team Rocket', and now that it was mine all I had left was a handful of idiots and a run down mountain range. It was then that I found Giovanni's plans, as well as my fathers, and re-worked them both." He patted on Mew Three's containment tube. "Giovanni didn't calculate in the trainable factor, but I did. I needed pokemon that were powerful, very powerful, to boost the powers of Mew Three, as well as pokemon that were very well trained." He then smiled again. "So I chose your pokemon. I stole them, took their DNA and spliced it with Mew's to create a new hybrid Mew Three. With every pokemon I added its power was boosted, and that's not including the rare candies I stole from you and broke down into the molecules of its cells."

"You're a freak." I said, looking around at my pokemon. _I have to get them out!_

"If you're thinking about freeing them, I think I should let you now that the glass they are suspended in is made of solid diamond. Nothing can break that, nothing in the world."

"What about your fathers invention?" I asked. "You said you improved that as well."

"Oh, you will see." He said, walking over to a computer. "It seems as if my second trial is almost done. The first one, however, will take a few more minutes." He then glanced up at me. "Bigger pokemon, ya know?"

_I've got to get this battle started. _I looked around again at my pokemon. _The sooner I beat him the quicker I can free them. But how am I going to beat him? Even if I am the Pokemon Master of Kanto, it'll be three pokemon against at least six of his, how am I going to do this?_ "Well…" I said under my breath. "I guess I'll just have to."

"What was that?" Conner asked.

I glared up at him. "You think I care about your father's death?" I barked. "All you Team Rocket members are nothing but scum. Yeah, so what, I killed your deadbeat father! What are you going to do about it, tell me another bedtime story?" I watched as he began to snarl. His face turned red in anger as his hands began to clench into fists. _Perfect, it's working. If I get him mad enough he'll start to make stupid mistakes and I can win this much easier. _"So you want to kill me?" I asked, throwing my hands up and turning my head and looking around the room. "Well I'm still here. You're doing a pretty crappy job of it. I already survived drowning, breaking out of your dungeon, pushing over all your guards, and even made it to your evil lair." I then glared at him with a smile. "God, I bet your father is laughing at you right now, the stupid moron."

"That's it." Conner snarled. "You asked for it. If you want to die that badly then I will happily oblige." He reached in his jacket pocket, pulling out a pokeball. "Go Tyranitar!"

The ball flew onto the makeshift field zapping out a massive shadow that stood in the dark. I saw the form open its eyes, which glowed red in the dark. The ground shook as it took a step closer, having one of its massive green legs showing. It then took another step revealing the rest of its scaly body. "Taaarrrrrrr!" Tyranitar roared, shaking the cave.

_Holy crap! I've only read about these kind of pokemon._ Tyranitar was huge, standing nearly as tall as Gyarados as he slithered around the green monster.

"I shall end this." Conner said as he walked back to this throne. "Tyranitar. Use Thrash."

I watched Tyranitar lower down as it brought out large claws that extended from its hands. Its glowing eyes narrowed to slants as it bared its teeth. "Aaaarrrrrrrr!" The monster screamed, running at Gyarados while its claws began to glow.

"Hydro Pump!" I screamed.

"Rock Edge, Tyranitar!" Conner ordered from his throne.

Gyarados opened his mouth, letting out a large stream of water at Tyranitar. Tyranitar stopped its rampage, bringing its hands up in a defensive block. When it did this, rocks began to shoot out of the ground, forming a wall between the Hydro Pump attack and Tyranitar.

The water hit the rocks, chipping away at the wall little by little until it broke through, hitting Tyranitar and forcing it to the ground.

"Tar… Tar…" It huffed.

"So, Richard shut down the chips. Oh well." Conner waved his hand in a nonchalant way, looking not worried in the least. "I don't need those microchips to beat you. Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam."

"Right back at it, Gyarados!"

Both pokemon opened their mouths, letting out a bright white light that lit up the entire room. The light was blinding to look at so I shielded my eyes, turning my head when I did. But as I looked away I saw Conner, sitting at this throne, with a laptop in his lap. He was smiling.

The attack was still going on when I ordered the next move. "Move to the right!" I said. "Hydro Pump!"

Gyarados did as I said, slithering away from the attack to the right, which left Tyranitar completely open. Gyarados opened his mouth, ready to fire when Conner ordered an attack.

"Stone Edge again!" But it was too late. The Hydro Pump hit Tyranitar hard as he held his hands in a defensive way, forcing rocks up to block the water, but every time they emerged they were shattered under the pressure of the attack. Tyranitar's feet dug into the ground, keeping its hold on the rocks, but slowly sliding back.

"Hyper Beam." Conner ordered, throwing one leg over the armrest of his throne.

Tyranitar opened his mouth, taking in water at the same time, but forcing out a light that shot through the Hydro Pump.

"Gyarados!" I called out. "Move!" But I called it too late. The Hyper Beam moved through the water like it was a water gun. Gyarados tried to move, but was still hit hard in the side, spinning him around.

I watched Tyranitar cover the space between them in the mere seconds it took Gyarados to get back up.

"Tyranitar." Conner spoke. "Rock Edge."

"Gyarados! Hyper Beam!"

Tyranitar once again made a rock wall in the little space between it and Gyarados. Gyarados opened his mouth, letting out another beam of light, making it strike into the rock, shattering it instantly.

"Giga Impact." Conner said as Tyranitar reappeared from the shadows behind Gyarados. It was leaping in the air, having it's fist drew back, glowing brighter than the Hyper Beam.

_Oh no… _I watched as Tyranitar punched Gyarados in the back of the head, making him slam on the ground and skid across the rock floor. Tyranitar landed on the ground, weak, but still on his feet. Gyarados, on the other hand, was knocked out cold.

"My, my." Conner said, looking at his computer. "That is one down, and how many do you have left? Two?" Then he pointed to my shoulder. "And that is including that little rat you have on your shoulder."

I turned my head, looking at Pichu who was scared to death, looking at the Tyranitar that towered over the knocked out Gyarados.

"Hey, don't worry." I said to him, patting him on the head. "We will get out of here, I promise."

"Pi…" He said as he cowered behind my shoulder.

"Oh, what's wrong, Pichu?" Conner asked in a mocking kind of way. "Afwade of da 'big bag mosta'? Baw-haha!" He bellowed. "You better be! Because after I kill Kyle, you will be going in my little experiment."

"That's not going to happen!" I said, recalling Gyarados and reaching for the pokeball around my neck. "Go Arcanine!"

Arcanine stood up strong, completely healed from the gym battle we had earlier. _I know that the type advantage is a little rough, but it's weak, and Arcanine is the only thing I have that can stand up to that._

"Taaarrrr!" The Tyranitar roared as it bent down, pressing its face up to Arcanine's, but Arcanine didn't do anything. He stood there, strong willed and not flinching. He stared straight into its face, glaring right back at it.

"Thrash." Conner called out.

"Extreme Speed!" I ordered.

Tyranitar raised its hand, getting ready for a swipe, but by the time it was in the air, Arcanine was gone.

"Now!" I screamed. Arcanined jumped out of the shadows, latching onto Tyranitar's neck, biting down and breaking its rocky scales. His teeth sunk in, breaking skin and shattering his protective armor.

"Raaaa!" Tyranitar twisted and swung its body around, trying to shake Arcanine off, but Arcanine dug his claws into its back, latching on tighter. Arcanine then bit it again on the neck, and again and again, tearing more and more rock armor off every time.

"Now!" I screamed. "Bite with Flamethrower!"

In the opened area around its neck Arcanine latched on. His teeth sunk deep into Tyranitar's neck, causing blood to flow out onto the ground. A fire quickly erupted in Arcanine's throat as a massive stream of fire bellowed out from his mouth, covering Tyranitar's head, neck and back in pure flames.

When Arcanine was done he jumped off its back, watching as the monster fell to the ground, knocked out.

"Oh, no bother." Conner brushed it off as he recalled his Tyranitar. "It is still two against five. I'm not concerned." He reached into his jacket, pulling out another pokeball and throwing it on the field. Before us appeared his Ursaring.

_Alright. Now, from here on out I know all of his pokemon. The Tyranitar was the one that he never showed me, so that leaves Ursaring, Swampert, Dodrio, and Steelix._ "Wait. Didn't he just say 'two against five?" _Is their another one I don't know about?"_

"Ursaring." Conner called out. "Thrash!"

"Extreme Speed on every attack it dishes out!" I screamed.

Ursaring raised its paws up as they shone a bright white. It ran towards Arcanine, and was about to swing when Arcanine vanished, appearing to its side and ramming it in the ribs. Ursaring stumbled around, and then tried to attack Arcanine again, only to find him using Extreme Speed, striking into Ursaring and causing it to stumble again.

"Attack to the left!" Conner screamed as Arcanine vanished. Ursaring did as it was told, swinging to the left and knocking Arcanine across the face and right out of his Extreme Speed attack.

Arcanine fell to the ground with three deep cuts on his face. "Arcanine!" I called out. "Take out its feet!"

Since Arcanine was already on the ground he didn't have to do much to bite down hard on Ursaring's foot. "Urrrrsssa!" It cried out as Arcanine gave it a quick pull, making it smack its head on the rock it was standing on. Arcanine stood up, holding Ursaring's foot in his mouth as he spun his head, throwing Ursaring against the wall of the cave.

"Now!" I said, watching as Arcanine's mouth began to drizzle with little embers. He let go of Ursaring's foot, only to cover it in a mouth of fire. The hair on its body sizzled in the intense heat as it fell to the ground, knocked out.

Arcanine shook his head, making blood drip on the floor as Conner recalled his pokemon. "It's just a mater of time, Kyle." I saw another pokeball fly onto the field as his Steelix slithered out from the shadows.

"Liiixxxxxxx!" it screamed.

"Arcanine!" I called out. "Remember what happended in Olivine? Don't get close, use Extreme Speed to dodge and only use distance attacks!"

"Stupid fool." Conner laughed. "Does he not realize I have ears?" He then spoke up. "Steelix, Stone Edge!"

"Arcanine! Dodge and use Flamethrower!"

Steelix slammed his tail on the ground as rocks began to fly up around Arcanine. Arcanine moved, running behind a bio-tube and blasting Steelix with a Flamethrower every chance he got. Rocks were flying everywhere when Arcanine jumped in the air, hitting Steelix with a Fire Blast attack.

I saw Steelix's tail began to glow a bright white, and I knew what was going to happen. "Arcanine!" I called out. "Flamethrower the wall!"

"Iron Tail." Conner called.

Steelix raised its tail, swinging it at Arcanine as he blasted flames on a nearby wall, pushing him away from the attack, but he was still hit. The tail came down, striking into Arcanine's side, knocking him out of the air and into a nearby rock.

Arcanine stood up, shaking off the pebbles as Steelix slithered up behind him.

"End it now!" I said. "Heat Wave! Give it all you got!"

"Rock Tomb!" Conner called.

Arcanine took a deep breath, stabling himself as he let out a roar, followed by an orb of solid fire that dispersed in all directions. Steelix stood it's ground; slamming into the rock wall and making stalactites fall from the ceiling, crashing down on the orb of flames. But the flames were so intense that the rocks began to melt as they fell closer and closer to Arcanine, which did nothing more than feed his fire with his 'Flash Fire' ability.

Before long both Steelix and Arcanine were caught in the mass of flames. The heat escalated and walls of the cave around the attack started to warp, bending and molding around the orb. Soon the attack ended, and Arcanine stood up from the molten rock that lay around him, most of which was Steelix's burned and melted body.

"RRRrrrr…" I heard Conner growl.

"Ar… Ar…" Arcanine huffed as he stumbled around, trying to regain his footing on the rocky floor.

"Arcanine!" I cried out. "Are you okay?"

"Oh please!" Conner screamed. "Look at him!" I watched Arcanine huff as he closed one of his eyes. "He's done. Congratulations for taking down three of my pokemon with that mutt, but he's done for!" Conner then threw out another pokeball as Dodrio appeared on the field.

"Crraaaaa!" All three heads crowed at once.

"Arcanine!" I screamed. "Flamethrower!"

"Quick Attack." Conner spoke.

Arcanine opened his mouth, shooting out a stream of fire that struck Dodrio, but when it did the bird vanished. Dodrio reappeared beside Arcanine as all three of its heads began to feverishly drill their beaks into Arcanine's side.

"Arr!" Arcanine whined as he began to fall on his side.

"Bite!" I screamed. With that, Arcanine latched onto the bird's foot, biting down hard as he fell to the ground. "Now!" I said. "One final Flamethrower!"

"Tri Attack!" Conner screamed.

Arcanine, still biting down, let out a stream of fire that burned Dodrio's foot, but at the same time the bird combined all three of its heads, each one shooting out a beam of energy that struck Arcanine in the face. One was ice, one was electric, and the last was fire. I saw Arcanine's grip on Dodrio's leg loosen as his head fell to the ground with a thud.

"Cra! Cra!" The bird cried, limping away back to its trainer.

"Now!" Conner said. "Kill it!"

"What?" I screamed, looking at Conner and then back to Arcanine.

Conner grinned. "Use a Hyper Beam."

"Oh no you don't." I reached for Arcanine's pokeball as the Dodrio shot out not one, but three Hyper Beams, one from each of its heads. The beams flew towards Arcanine, but I recalled him just before they hit. He was sucked back into his pokeball just as the rocks beneath him turned into dust from the power of the attack.

"Oh, Kyle." Conner said. "Whatever will you do now? You should have let him die. At least that way it would have been painless." He then smiled. "Now it seems as if I can torture him before he dies."

"That's not going to happen Conner!" I said as I gave Pichu a look. Pichu nodded, jumping off my shoulder and running into the shadows of the cave.

"And what are you going to do?" He laughed, obviously not seeing Pichu making his way back behind Dodrio.

"I'm going to stop you." I said as I grit my teeth.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this! Pichu!" I screamed. "Quick Attack with Volt Tackle!"

"Piiii!" Pichu screamed as he charged up. He was standing behind Dodrio, and with his screaming, he gave away his position. It also didn't help that he was putting off a yellow glow of electricity in the dark cave. Dodrio turned to look at the mouse as he charged forward, making sparks of electric surge through his paws. Pichu leaped in the air, discharging all his built up energy into the bird pokemon.

"Crraaaa!" Dodrio cried, falling to the ground as Pichu landed beside the knocked out bird. Pichu was breathing heavy. _This isn't good. He used up almost all of his energy on that one attack._

"Very nice show." Conner said. "Too bad for you that you and your pokemon are still going to die. Now!" He stood from his throne. "Go Swampert."

The pokeball flew out as the mud fish appeared in front of Pichu. He stood tall, and looked down at the little mouse that sat only a few feet away from him.

"Pi!" Pichu put on a smile, remembering only a few weeks ago when they both worked together to earn a badge. "Pi! Pichu!" He smiled happily as he ran up to the fish, holding his arms out wide for a hug.

"No! Pichu! Stop!" I screamed as I saw the Swampert bare it's teeth, snarling at Pichu as water began to pour out of its mouth. "Pichu! Come back!"

"Finish this!" Conner screamed as the mud fish opened its mouth letting out a mass of water which struck Pichu hard. Pichu flew back, slamming into the cave wall as the power of the water attack crumbled the wall on impact.

"Pichu!" I screamed, running over to the wet rubble. I frantically began to pick up rocks, tossing them aside as Conner laughed loudly. "Oh look, there's something on my wall, I think its _mouse guts!_ Bwahaha!"

"Please be alive. Please be alive." I spoke, throwing rocks away from the pile. Eventually I saw his little black tail. I tossed more rocks away and their laid Pichu, badly hurt under the rubble, but still alive. "Oh you crazy little thing." I said, hugging him close. I then opened my eyes, and grit my teeth. _What am I going to do? That monster…_ _I'm out of pokemon. I can't fight any more… _ I took Pichu in my arms as I stood, facing Conner. _What can I do? I guess there is only thing I can do… I guess… I guess I'm going to have to give up._

"Oh come on, _Mr. Pokemon Master!_ Where are those fighting words now?"

"Ricky…"

"Wait, let me guess." Conner said, cutting me off. "You're going to beg for your life, right?" He then laughed. "Why don't you do that, that would amuse me to death!"

_"Kyle!"_ I heard a woman's voice. _"Kyle! Listen to me!" _The voice said. _"I need you to step back as far as you can."_

I looked around, bewildered. "Articuno?" But in the cave it was just me, Conner, and the bio-tubes.

"What was that?" Conner called out. "Speak up! I want to savor this moment! Hahah!"

I took one step back. "This isn't over." I took another step back. "Not yet."

"And what else do you have?"

_"ME!" _Articuno screamed through both of our heads as the ceiling above me began to crumble.

"What's going on?" Conner screamed, grabbing onto his computer station for support as the entire cave began to shake.

Dust started to fall down from the rocks overhead, then shortly after a large crack appeared. Pebbles began to fall, then the bright light from the mid morning sun shone in as the roof collapsed. As the roof began to fall I turned my back to the rubble, covering over Pichu to protect him. The ground shook violently, and then stopped. I opened my eyes when I felt a cold breeze sweep through the now brightly lit cave. Through the dust, I turned and saw Articuno. She was beautiful. The sunlight struck her feathers and was reflected from the frost that coated her body, creating a glistening shine that was almost blinding in the cave.

"Braaaa!" She called out, lowering her head down and blasting an Ice Beam attack at Swampert. The beam was fast, but not fast enough. Swampert dodged, leaping into the air, leaving a frozen block of rock under him from where the Ice Beam hit.

"Articuno…" I spoke looking at her.

_"Kyle, this isn't the time."_ She said sternly. _"We have to finish this now. He has three things left… one of which, you're not going to like."_

"Yeah, I know what you're talking about." I stood up, walking beside her and sidestepping rocks. "That Mew Three is going to be a pain. But with you here…"

_"Trust me."_ She cut me off. _"The Mew Three is not going to be our biggest obstacle. In fact,"_ She turned and smiled at me. _"I already know you are going to enjoy Mew Three quite substantially."_

I looked at her very strange. _If Mew Three isn't the problem, then…_

"So." Conner said as he recalled his Swampert. "It seems as if my little plan to bring you out worked quite well." He then began to clap. "Good show, good show, Ms. Legendary Articuno.

_"No… No! This isn't good." _Articuno said, shaking her head.

"What?" I asked, looking at her concerned. "What is it?"

"Confused?" Conner asked as he brought up the keyboard to the computer he was standing at. "What? You really thought that I didn't know you had telekinesis powers?" He laughed. "Oh, you and your trainer are so predictable."

_"He…" _Articuno spoke as she glared at Conner. _"He changed his mindset, and keeps thinking of completely irrelevant things. I, I don't know what is going to happen. Our future has just changed."_

"What do you mean, 'changed'?"

"Changed?" Conner laughed. "Changed? My guess would be that she was reading my mind to figure out the outcome of this battle. Too bad for you that didn't work, but for me…" He smiled. "Well, it led you right into my trap. Now, Kyle! Prepare to be beaten by your own pokemon, just like I promised!"

Conner slammed his hand on the keyboard, which in return raised a small glass dome on a stand beside him. The dome opened, and out from it Conner pulled a pokeball. "Go." He smiled as he threw the ball onto the field.

I watched Articuno's eyes open wide as she looked into the shadows of the cave that wasn't lit up from the light. She then turned back to me. _"Kyle. Please. This is not going to be easy for you to grasp…"_

"What?" I looked at her. "What are you talking-" I stopped speaking when I saw the shadows began to light up with a purple glow. I looked back ahead to see red eyes glaring from the shadows of the purple haze. The figure crawled forward as it emerged into the light.

"Car-GO!" My purple Magcargo roared.

"Magcargo!" I screamed, jumping over fallen rocks to go to him.

_"NO!"_ Articuno screamed as she spread her wings. She leaped into the air, flying after me as Conner began to grin. I watched as Magcargo opened his mouth and began to build up a mass of purple flames inside of his throat. The flames shot out in the biggest Flamethrower I'd ever seen him use. It actually looked more like a Fire Blast, or even a Blast Burn.

I stood, dumbfounded, in the way of the attack when Articuno swooped in and blocked the attack with her wing. She wrapped her wings around me and Pichu, creating a shield that repelled the fire, but at a grave cost to her.

"Braaaa!" She cried out in pain as the flames singed the feathers on her back and wing. When the flames stopped, Conner began to laugh.

"Oh, poor little Kyle!" He bellowed in laughter. "I wish I had a camera to capture that face you had! It was priceless!"

_"Kyle…" _Articuno took a hard breath. _"Stand back… Soon this will be over…"_

"But…"

_"Just do it!"_ She screamed at me as she spread her wings, pulling them back in as she began to re-grow her feathers right before my eyes using a Roost attack. I backed up, and when I did, Conner began to speak again.

"You asked me what my fathers invention had to do with you? Well, there it is." He said, pointing at Magcargo. "My father was wrong with using a beam or a collar to control pokemon. I took his plan and made it better. I have permanently brainwashed your precious shiny pokemon of all of his memories. Now he absolutely hates you."

"Is this what you did to all my pokemon?" I screamed, throwing my hand around to the bio-tubes.

"Sadly, no." He said. "For them I needed to keep their memories, to make Mew Three trainable and obey commands. But Mew Three is currently complete, with the exception of fully developing, of course. Either way, there was, and never will be any need for me to brainwash it. All of my calculations and test subjects all show the same results in multiple brain functions and memories to cross cancel each other, making Mew Three like a freshly caught Pidgey. Easy to train, and easy to fool."

_"Kyle."_ Articuno spoke. _"We have to finish this fast. If we can take down this Magcargo before he can finish brainwashing the other pokemon he has, we can still win."_

"Other pokemon?" I asked. "What other pokemon?"

_"There is no time!" _She screamed as she glared at me. _"We have to attack! Now!"_

"Well what do you want me to do?" I asked, looking at her confused.

_"Well…" _She then looked back to Magcargo. _"You are a trainer. Why don't you start by telling me what to do."_ I looked at her shocked as she continued. _"I can't read that thing's mind, and Conner isn't giving it orders. My guess is that he can't control it. You know that Magcargo better than anyone else, so you tell me how to beat it."_ She then paused, and continued. _"If we don't do this fast, no one will get out of this cave alive."_

"I don't know what you mean by that, but okay." I took a deep breath, placing Pichu on the ground beside me. "Articuno!" I cried out. "Fly into the air!"

"Braaa!" She called out as she spread her wings and took flight. Magcargo watched her flying around above him.

"Ice Beam!" I called out, pointing at Magcargo.

The beam shot out, striking Magcargo on his black shell, but turned into water vapor instantly, doing little damage. "Mag!" Magcargo roared, letting out a blast of fire at Articuno.

"Dodge!" I screamed as she moved out of the way. The flames flew up, hitting the left over ceiling over top of Magcargo. The flames melted some of the rocks, but that was about it. "Again!" I screamed. "Ice Beam!"

Once again Articuno shot a beam of ice at Magcargo that did nothing, and once again Magcargo shot out a massive amount of flames at Articuno. But the attack was faster this time, and Articuno was barley able to dodge in time.

"Again!" I screamed as the attack persisted. The Ice Beam hit Magcargo, who let out another fire attack, this one fast and bigger than the one before. Articuno tried to dodge, but was hit by the attack in the wing.

"Braaa!" She called out in pain as she fell to the cave floor beside me. _"Just so you know…"_ She looked at me. _"That plan sucked."_

"Its not over yet." I said as I pointed to the bright red hot rocks that were hanging over Magcargo. "I'm sorry, Magcargo." I said in a low voice. "Now! Articuno! Ice Beam!"

Articuno opened her mouth, letting out a beam of ice that shot to the ceiling of the slightly molten rocks that were over Magcargo. The beam hit, creating a drastic cool down of rocks and causing them to crumble and fall. The boulders fell down, smacking into Magcargo and burying him under.

"_Kyle…"_ Articuno said as she struggled to stand. _"Just so you know… that plan still sucked!"_

"Oh shut up, you're still alive." I said, watching as Conner recalled my Magcargo. When he did the mound of rocks caved in from where his body was.

"_Yeah but all this could have been avoided if you'd just listened to me."_ She rolled her eyes. _"But no, who would ever listen to a talking bird, especially one that can read minds and foresee the future! Oh better not listen to her!"_

"Is this really the time?" I barked at her.

"No!" Conner screamed. "Noo!" He ran over to a computer, looking at some charts and then ran back to the other side of the room.

_"Ha…" _Articuno chuckled. _"We did it."_

"Did we make it in time?" I asked.

_"Well…" _We both watched as Conner ran between computers, cursing and screaming. _"Looks like we will find out."_

"Why… WHY!" Conner screamed. He was baring his teeth, making veins in his head stand up. His eyes began to twitch as he pulled his hand to his head, pulling out a fist full of hair as he screamed. "WHYYYY! Why is it not ready? I can't lose!" He then turned to look at me with those blood red eyes. "Fine! FINE!" He screamed. "You die! You all die! You will die now!" He then slammed his hand on a button on one of the computers by his throne. "Hah- Hah- HAHA!" He laughed in an insane way. "Fifteen! Fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes is all it will take to kill you. Fifteen minutes!"

I watched as the large bio-tube in the middle of the room began to drain. The monster, Mew Three inside of it was being brought to life.

"Articuno." I asked as I watched the creature open it's bright red glowing eyes. "What did he mean by 'fifteen minutes'?"

The creature began to move its arms, scraping its sword like appendages on the diamond tube.

_"Fifteen minutes,"_ She said. _"Is how long it will live."_ She then paused. _"We have to beat Conner before that time runs out."_

"Why? Isn't that good if time runs out?"

_"No…"_

Mew Three began to claw away at the diamond casing, scraping and clawing as Conner laughed out. "Yes! Yes! My creation! Yes! Come forth and kill!"

The creature then stopped and opened its mouth. Outside the tube we couldn't hear anything, but we could see the diamond casing begin to vibrate and shake. It shook violently and then shattered. As it did a very high pitched noise shot through the room. I saw Conner wince and grab his ears as the sound bounced off the walls, but, it didn't hurt me. I looked over to Articuno who also looked unfazed, then back to Conner who was still grabbing his ears. I saw the bio-tube that held Pidgeot shatter as she fell to the floor. The liquid and shards of diamond littered the rubble as Pidgeot coughed up fluids from her lungs, clearing a way for oxygen to enter. Soon other bio-tubes began to break as my other pokemon fell out on the floor as well. Kabutops, Umbreon, Dragonite, Raticate, Beedrill, Primeape, Scizors, and even Typhlosion were free, but not moving. _I'm guessing that the fluids paralysis are still in effect._

Tubing and electrical wiring began to fall down from the ceiling as the sparks flew all over the room. The creature then stopped screaming, and Conner stood back up. "Now! My creation! Kill them! Kill them all!"

I watched as the beast stuck one of its sword like arms out of its shattered tube, slicing through the rocky floor and pulling itself out. It fell to the floor as it struggled to stand. "CRaaa! Aaaa! BRaa!" It cackled and gurgled as it struggled to stand. Its bones began to crack under its massive weight as it put its Umbreon paws on the ground. It was thin, so thin that the bones in its body were showing. Organs were tearing through the skin as the rib bones made scales fall off its body. Its wings fluttered and twitched as feathers fell, making it struggle to fly. Its red scales caught ablaze as it began to crawl, fly, and walk over to me, all at the same time. "CRa! Cra! Craaaa!" It gurgled as it spat up bio-fluids.

"Articuno!" I screamed. "Used Ice Beam on it!"

_"No."_ She said.

"What do you mean no?" I screamed. "That thing is going to kill us!"

_"No it's not."_ She said calmly as she watched the monstrosity of nature began to crawl its way ever so closer.

"Are you crazy?" I asked.

_"No, I'm just a bird that can tell the future."_ She said in a smart way. _"But no, don't listen to me, its not like you ever do anyway."_

"Then at least tell me why."

_"I don't need to."_ She said with a smile as the beast came within five feet of me. _"It will."_

I looked at Mew Three as it tilted its Kabutops shaped head at me. It looked at me with its bright red eyes as its scales began to smolder out.

"What are you waiting for!" Conner screamed. "Mew Three! Kill him! Now!" But Mew Three didn't do anything, instead it stood, looking at me. "Now! I said now!"

_"Ma… ster…."_ Mew Three spoke as fluid bubbled out from its mouth. _"Ky…le…"_ It was then that I realized what Articuno was talking about. I looked back at her for confirmation, and when she nodded, I began to laugh. I laughed so hard that I almost fell over.

"Attack!" Conner screamed. "Kill him!"

"You idiot!" I screamed to Conner as Mew Three turned to face him. "You used my pokemon with their own memories to create Mew Three. That means they will still listen to me, and so will this one." I then placed my hand on Mew Three, who purred in a very garbled way.

"But that's not possible! The legendary factor in that should have canceled that out! That's how it was with every test subject! That's how it was!"

"You know, legendary pokemon will never be trained by humans." I said as I laughed. "Even when I was commanding Articuno I wasn't controlling her. They work on their own free will. Sure, you calculated the legendary factor in, but they can look deep inside your soul and see you are pure evil. Even if you had brainwashed my pokemon, Mew Three still would listen to me over you anyday."

"That is illogical!" Conner screamed. "That's not possible!" Right then a computer light came on. "Ha!" Conner laughed. "Hah! HAHAH! Now you will see the full power of a legendary pokemon!" He then slammed his hand on a button as another glass dome arose from this side.

_"Kyle." _Articuno said. _"This is when my visions get fuzzy."_

"What do you mean?" I asked as Conner grabbed up the purple masterball.

_"What I mean is, I don't know what the outcome of this battle is going to be."_

The pokeball flew out, and in front of us flew a dark gray Lugia with a purple haze around it's mouth. Its eyes were glowing bright red and its teeth were a vibrant silver color. "Luuuugg!" It screamed.

"Articuno?" I asked as Conner began to raise his hand to call an attack. "Can we win?"

_"You tell me. Trainer."_


	25. A Real BackStabber

**Chapter 24**

**A Real Back-Stabber**

"Brrraaaa!" The nearly black Lugia screamed. The horrid cry was so loud it echoed through the cave, making dust fall from the hole that Articuno previously made. The creature stayed in the shadows, huffing and puffing as it glared at us with its red, evil eyes.

"Now!" Conner screamed as he laughed maniacally. "Now you will see my power! My true power! Mu-haha-ha!"

Articuno spread her wings wide as frost fell from her feathers, almost like falling jewels that glistened in the sunlight. In the dim room the flakes of snow caught every hint of the light that beamed in a circle nearly ten feet in front of us. As Articuno did this, Mew Three clawed its way over to me and rubbed its head on my arm, making almost a purring noise.

"Articuno?" I asked as I she twisted her head around like an owl, popping her neck. "What should I do… about…"

_"Mew Three?"_ She said, shoving her beak in my face. _"Well, what you shouldn't do is stand around and act like a scared little Togepi." _She then snorted as she glared at me. _"You are a trainer, Kyle. Mew Three is made of nearly every pokemon you trained."_ She then looked to Lugia as he stretched his wings.

"Lugia!" Conner screamed. "Hit them with a Shadow Blast!"

Articuno took to the air as Lugia opened his mouth, forming a ball of purple energy. I stood and watched as the ball flew from the monster's mouth, heading directly towards Articuno who barely dodged it.

"Again!" Conner screamed. "I want that bird dead!"

Lugia once again shot out a dark purple blast at Articuno, this time striking the tip of her left wing. She cried out as she spun in the air, trying to regain her flight as Lugia let out another blast. This time the blast struck Articuno in the back, forcing her to land on the ground.

_"Kyle!"_ She huffed. _"Why are you hesitating? I need your help."_

I looked down to Mew Three, who was laying at my feet.

_"Arr!" _Articuno growled. **"**Brrraaaa!" _"I never should have come back for you. What was I thinking?"_ She stood up, shaking off her loose feathers as she began to take off again. _"If you don't take charge Kyle, we are all going to die!"_

I watched as the battle continued. Articuno, even though she was a legendary, wasn't fairing too well against that beast of a pokemon. _Why was I not doing anything? Why am I not helping?_ I took a deep breath, trying to take it all in. I closed my eyes, clearing my mind.

_Why? Why did Articuno come back? Why was I here, now? Am I here because of Ricky? No, I don't think so. Am I here because of Giovanni? Or how about Articuno? None of this would ever have happened if I didn't capture Articuno. None of this would have happened if I … went with Shonna that day. None of this._

I opened my eyes, watching as Articuno fell to the ground again, gasping for air. My eyes narrowed as I looked to Ricky. "Whatever the reason, I'm here now." I said under my breath to Ricky, glaring at him as he laughed historically. "If there is anything I have learned, it's that I decide my own fate. Everything that has happened in my life is because I didn't do what I should have. Shonna left because I didn't stop her. I let you fool me, lie to me, and steal my pokemon because I didn't want to believe it was true." I closed my hand into a fist as I screamed. "I will not let it end like this!"

_"That's right, Kyle."_ Articuno smiled as she struggled to stand. _"I knew you would come around, eventually."_

"End this way?" Conner screamed and laughed. "End this way? How else can it end? One of us is going to die, and it won't be me!"

"You're wrong." I said as looking down at Mew Three. "Nobody has to die."

Mew Three rose up, standing, walking, flying and crawling its way closer to Lugia. "Crraaaaa!" It gurgled as blood flooded out of its mouth. Its skin was tearing, showing its rib bones as it carried itself closer.

"Lugia!" Conner ordered. "Kill that monstrosity of a creature with Shadow Storm!"

Lugia spread his wings wide as dark energy began to emanate from his body in a radial pattern. I watched as the room began to grow dark, but Mew Three didn't seem fazed. In fact, the darkness looked like it stopped when it reached Mew Three. In the middle of the darkness was an orb of fire resonating from ground, blocking out all efforts of the attack Lugia was dishing out. Inside the sphere I saw Mew Three gasping and groaning.

_This isn't good._ I thought to myself. _That Lugia took out Articuno like she was nothing, on top of that Conner said Mew Three only had fifteen minutes left of life, and most of that has already passed._

I then looked around the room as the darkness began to fill. From the corner of my eye I saw Articuno limping her way over to me from the left side, as well as Umbreon, Typhlosion, and Kabutops. From the right I saw Dragonite, Raticate, Beedrill, Primeape, Scizors and Pidgeot making their way over. They all came to my side, glancing up, and down at me.

"_The paralysis they were under has worn off." _Articuno said as she nodded to me. _"I did what I could, but they are not doing very well."_

"Thanks." I said as I placed my hand on her head. I then looked back to the rest of my pokemon. "You guys, I'm sorry for everything, but if we are going to end this, we'd better do it now." I reached for the two pokeballs that I still had on me. "And we are going to need all the help we can get." I threw them out as the badly hurt Arcanine and Gyarados appeared before us. "Now." I said, looking at them. "We only have one shot at this, when I give the word I want all of you to attack Lugia together, use your biggest attack. Got it?" I looked at them as they all nodded to me. "Alright, then here it goes. Mew Three!" I screamed out. "Use Hyper Beam! Now!"

When I said this I saw the entire room light up. The shadow attack that covered the cave vanished in the blink of an eye. When the shadows were gone I could see Mew Three tilt its head up to the flying bird with an orb in its mouth bigger than I had ever seen before. I saw all my pokemon, one by one, run in front of me with energy building up in their bodies. They all stood firm, powering up and waiting for Mew Three to release the first attack.

As the power rose in the room, everything went silent. Then Mew Three's attack shot out. The beam was so powerful that it was more like ten or fifteen Hyper Beams being shot at once. When the massive amount of light was released, my other pokemon followed it up. Arcanine and Typhlosion both released stored up Fire Blasts at the flying bird while Pidgeot began to use Air Cutter moves. Primeape and Scizors were picking up boulders, throwing them as Beedrill started to use his Hidden Power attack, picking up shards of rocks and thrusting them at Lugia. Kabutops and Gyarados both began to use Hydro Pump on the monster while Umbreon began to pelt it with Shadow Ball attacks. I watched as Raticate jumped on Dragonite's back, flying into the air with Articuno. Both Raticate and Dragonite released a pair of Hyper Beams, while Articuno built up power for her Ice Beam attack.

It was almost as if time stood still when all the attacks were released at once. I watched, in silence, as the combination of attacks twisted and warped around each other as they made their way to the evil pokemon. I saw the look in Lugia's eyes as the massive powers from each pokemon collided into one impact. The pure force from the collision shook the cave. "BRAAAAAA!" Lugia cried out as all the attacks converged. The ceiling began to cave in, making a large boulder come down on Lugia. The bird fell to the ground, knocked out from the force of the attacks, and crushed by the giant rock that lay on top of him.

I saw Articuno land, and turn away. _"I am sorry… my friend."_ I knew right off she wasn't talking to me, when I saw her not facing the fallen legendary bird.

"No!" Conner screamed as the cave began to shake violently. The walls were crumbling, rocks were falling, and the hole that was previously made by Articuno, now filled in by rubble from the mountain above.

"Guys! Quick!" I said turning away and looking at all my pokemon. "We have to get out of here! Now!" All the pokemon turned to look at me, weak and barely standing.

_"KKKk-yy…llleee…" _I heard Mew Three gurgle as it made its way over to me. The other pokemon moved out of the way as it fell to my feet. Its skin finally gave way as its organs hit the ground.

"Mew Three!" I said as I kneeled down to it.

"L…L…" It gurgled up, before smiling at me. "Lea…ve…" With that final word, it closed its eyes, and took its last breath.

I stood up, rocks falling all around me as I looked at the dead pokemon at my feet.

_"Kyle!" _Articuno screamed. _"We have to go! And your pokemon won't leave without you!"_

"Yeah… I know…" I said. "Lets go, but Articuno…" I then took off my book bag and handed it to her. "Whatever happens," I said, pointing down into the book bag at the yellow mouse. "Get Pichu and my other pokemon out of here." She took the bag in her mouth with a nod as we walking out the door, rocks falling all around us.

"Oh no you don't!" Conner screamed. "I'm not letting you get away! You will die! You will die, now!"

I stopped when I got to the door. I didn't turn around. Instead I just yelled over my shoulder. "Ricky! Please, stop! I don't want it to end like this!"

"Oh…" He muttered as he reached for the switchblade in his pocket. "It won't! I said you're going to die! And you will!" Then, with one quick motion, he threw the switchblade.

I turned around just in time to see the knife leave his hand. It flew fast, and I knew right where it was headed, my heart. I was frozen, I couldn't move. I saw the knife get closer and closer, but suddenly felt a hard push on my shoulder. I was spun around by Arcanine. He tried to push me out of the way of the attack, but he was too late. The knife hit, piercing through my skin and into my ribs, but not where Conner had aimed. From where Arcanine spun me around the knife went into my back, right below my shoulder blade my right side, missing my heart.

The knife sunk in deep, almost coming out the other side. I fell to the ground, screaming out in pain. "Aaaahhhh!" I looked up and saw Arcanine's face. He looked mad, madder than I had ever seen him before. He then looked at Ricky and showed his fangs. Embers fell from his mouth as he began to release a Fire Blast attack at him.

"No!" I screamed, jumping up and pushing Arcanine's head away from his target, making the blast go up in the crumbling ceiling over Ricky. The fire melted the rocks causing a boulder come loose from the roof. "Ricky!" I screamed. "Move! The ceiling!" But it was too late. I watched as the rocks over him caved in, making the boulders fall on top of him. I looked down to the ground, and it was then that I realized I was standing in a pool of my own blood.

I reached my hand back to the knife in my back, pulling it out with one hand. "Ahhhh!" I screamed as tears rolled down my face. I dropped the knife on the ground as I ran over to Ricky. My vision was getting blurry, but I could still make out Arcanine's figure trailing beside me.

When I got over to the pile of rocks I saw that only his leg was pinned down. I kneeled down, reaching my hand to him. "Ricky, come on!" I said. "We can sti-"

He cut me off, spitting in my face. "Get away from me! You will die! I want you dead!"

"Why?" I said. "Ricky, you can start over! Why do this?"

"You took away the only thing I had in my life!" He said. "You stole my only friend! You stole my future! You stole everything! Do you know what it's like to lose everything you ever had?"

"Yes, Ricky, I do!" I said as tears came to my eyes. "I have lost everything as well. Please, let me help you! It doesn't have to end like this!"

"I swear, to God himself." He spat, baring his teeth as he tried to claw his way over to me. "With every fiber in my being I will have my revenge on you! I will make you feel the way you have made me feel before I cut out your heart!"

Then, a loud crumble silenced both of us. I looked up to see half of the room falling in around me. I reached my hand for Ricky's, but Arcanine bit down on my shoulder, dragging me away with his extreme speed. I watched as the roof fell down on Ricky, piece by piece falling on him and crushing his body. Arcanine's teeth sunk deep into my arm as the open gash from the knife continued to bleed uncontrollably. It was then that my vision began to go gray. Everything went black and white, and silent. I saw my pokemon around me, dragging me away. I saw Richard. I saw lights. Then, nothing.


	26. A Lot of Catching Up to do

**Chapter 25**

**A Lot of Catching Up to Do**

I slowly opened my eyes. My glasses were gone, and everything was blurry. I could barely stand to keep them open with how bright everything was. I winced, closing my eyes and turning my head, pulling a muscle in my back. Suddenly a strong pain shot through me from head to toe. "Arrggg…" I groaned, rolling over and reaching for my back. _Ga-, that hurts!_ I then heard footsteps coming over to me and a familiar voice rang through my ears.

"Kyle?" Bill said. "Kyle, are you awake?"

"Bill?" I asked opening my eyes to see a blurry brown fro over me. "But, how … how did you get …" My eyes then shot open as I jumped up out of the bed I was in. I jumped up, losing my balance and slipping on the cold tile floor. I reached my hand out for something to grab, but for some reason I found my arm was in a sling.

"Whoa!" Bill said as he caught me mid-fall. "Watch it Kyle, we don't want you hurting yourself any more."

"Where's Conner?" I screamed looking around at all the white tables, beds, and sheets in the hospital room I was in.

"Kyle, calm down." Bill said, putting his hands on my shoulder. "Don't worry, you're not at Mount Silver, or in a Team Rocket base. You're right here in Blackthorn City's hospital."

"But…" I said looking around the room. "How did I get here?"

"Well," Bill said, letting go of me as I sat back on the bed. He walked over to a table, picking up my glasses which were laying right next to my clothes and pokeballs. _My clothes?_ I looked down at myself. My right arm was in a sling and I could feel my chest was wrapped up in bandages under my hospital gown. I looked back up to Bill as he placed the glasses on my face, making everything come into focus. "Here's the story. After you left the PC in Mahogany town I already knew where you would go."

"Mount Silver." I said, looking down to the ground.

"Almost immediately after you hung up I got a call from the Scientific Research Lab on Cinnabar Island."

"You mean my mother's lab?" I asked, making eye contact with him.

"Yes." He nodded. "It was her on the phone, surprisingly. Turns out a certain pokemon that they were housing in that facility decided to plow its way through a multi-million-dollar piece of equipment called the _Artificial Simulation Environmental Chamber._ Turns out that certain pokemon was headed straight for Mount Silver." Bill then leaned back in his seat as I glanced around the room. "I called all the Officer Jennys in both Kanto and Johto, Professor Oak and Professor Elm. When we all got to the mountain, we couldn't find a way in. That is, until we heard a loud explosion, as well as seeing part of the mountain cave in. We then circled back around, and found an entrance with hundreds of Team Rocket members piling out. As the Jennys and other police members started rounding up the Rockets I heard someone call out to me from a boulder by the mountain." Bill then stopped, as he looked up to me. "Do you know who that was?"

I closed my eyes, thinking back to when Ricky stabbed me in the back_. I remember a lot of things about it,_ _but the last thing I remember is seeing Richard's face._ "Was… Was he in a white lab coat?" I asked.

"Yes he was." Bill nodded.

"Well… Did Jenny get Richard and Rachel too?"

"No." Bill then stood up, walking over to the window. "No, they managed to avoid the police. That is, with a little help." He then looked over to the pile of pokeballs on the table beside my clothes. "Richard, the man in the white lab coat was the one that handed me your battered body from Arcanine's back. He also gave me all of your pokeballs, your book bag, Pichu, and all your other pokemon that trotted along behind him." He then sighed. "After that, your pokemon started attacking the Team Rocket members, pinning them in and creating a distraction so Richard and Rachel could escape in their Jeep that was hidden in some greenery. But…" Bill said as he turned to walk over to me. "That was four days ago. You have been out like a light ever since. At first the doctors said that they didn't think you would make it, but look at you now!" He then gave me a light nudge on the left shoulder. "Same ol' Kyle, stubborn as a Tauros that wouldn't be outdone."

"Bill." I said, looking at him with a shocked expression. "You said I got all my pokemon back, right?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "They're here."

"What about…" I then glanced over to Articuno's pokeball. "You know…"

"Oh, you mean the certain pokemon?" Bill laughed. "Yeah, she has been chilling out on Dragon Mountain, where the peak could hide the snow she gives off."

"So," I stood up, struggling to stand as I walked over to the table. A few times I stumbled, but I was able to grab onto some beds or railings to keep me up. I grabbed Arcanine's pokeball in my hand. "Well, come on out boy." I pushed the button, throwing the pokeball, but nothing happened. The ball hit the ground, opening up and sliding across the floor.

"Umm yeah… I kinda forgot to tell you." Bill said as he picked up the pokeball and placed it back on the table. "Your pokemon refuse to listen to anyone, or go back in their pokeballs."

"What?" I asked, shocked. "Then, where are they?"

"Hmm… well…" Bill put a finger to his chin. "Right now I would say Gyarados is about to scare some tourists who are out taking pictures of the waterfall, and Kabutops has been helping the local PokeCenter by… well, wanting to hug everyone."

"Oh no." I slapped my head. "Did anyone get hurt?"

"No, not yet." Bill laughed. "But that's not half as bad as what Raticate and Primeape are doing."

"Oh… don't tell me…Raticate is acting like he has rabies and Primeape is stealing food from somewhere."

"Wow! You're good!"

"Ahhh…" I groaned. "What else?"

"Well, your Scizors, Beedrill and Typholsion have been training nonstop since you got here. However, you do have some pokemon that haven't been doing anything. In fact, they all have been sitting outside of the hospital waiting this whole time, mostly because the nurses wouldn't let them in, that is except for Pichu."

"Really?" I asked. "Why?"

"I don't know. Some kind of girl thing. They say '_Pichu is sooooo cute!'_" Bill said as he did a girly impression. "And for some reason they fight over who gets to come and check on you."

"Heh?" I asked, then shook my head. "No, why won't they let my other pokemon in?"

"Oh, right. They said that Arcanine, Dragonite, Umbreon and Pidgeot are too big to come into a human hospital."

_Tap! Tap! Tap! Zap!_ We heard coming from the hall. "Pi, pi!" _Zap! _The little mouse said, zapping out little sparks as he walked passed the door in his little leather jacket. He was holding half of a cupcake that was almost as big as he was, and most of the half that was gone was on his face. He stopped midstride as he looked in the room. His face changed from a shocked looked to a look of complete happiness. "Pi! Pi! Chu!" He screamed, dropping his cupcake and jumping into my chest.

"Oh! Hi bud." I said, stumbling and catching myself on the table.

"Pi! Pichu!" He squealed happily as he buried his face into my chest, rubbing the cupcake all over my hospital gown.

"I missed you too." I said, patting him on the head. "I guess it has been a long time." My eyes then shot open again. "Time!"

"Time?" Bill asked.

"What day is it?" I asked scared to death.

"Tuesday." Bill said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Why?"

"No! The date!" I said. "The date! What day is it?"

"Oh…" Bill pulled out his phone from his pocket, sliding it open. "It's the 27th of July."

"Oh no." I said, closing my eyes. "The league starts to the 14th of August. Crap! That means that I have like two weeks to get this last gym badge and make it to the league." I then sat down on the bed as Pichu ran up on my head playing in my hair. "How the heck am I going to get there now?"

"Why don't you let me take you?" Bill asked.

"Phft." I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, but it takes about 15 hours to drive from here to the league, and that's if you're going back-road short cuts. It's going to take me about a month to hike it. And besides that," I ran one hand through my hair, making Pichu jump to my shoulder. "I have to be registered and signed in a week. That means I only have one week to get up there."

"Come on, just hear me out." Bill said. "The gym is about thirty minutes away from here, and the league, I can get you there in a day."

"Ha!" I laughed, causing the stitches in my back to open up a little. "Ahh!" I groaned. "Hey, don't make me laugh, okay?" I chuckled.

"It's not a joke." He said.

"Then how?" I asked. "How in the world could you do that?"

"Well, lets just say that I am really good friends with someone that has a flying airship."

"A flying what?" I asked.

"A flying airship." He said. "Turns out that when the police and I came to rescue you we found the Team Rocket main base, and inside were tons of airships." He then paused. "A few were damaged, and one was missing, but they were all airships, and top grade ones too."

"Did you say one was missing?" I asked.

"Yeah, but that could have been for any reason." Bill said. "I mean, that could have been a place for one that was coming in, no one ever said that it was suppose to have an airship in it. It was just an empty launch pad."

"So, you know someone that would be willing to fly us there?" I asked.

"Yes. That is, if you don't mind a 16 year-old flying."

There was a long silence as I looked at him blankly. "No way in heck am I going to let you fly me 700 miles, in a Team Rocket airship, that probably doesn't even work. Did I mention that you don't even have a license to drive that?"

"Do you think that the Rockets that flew them had licenses?"

"You're missing the point!" I said.

"Listen." Bill said in a stern voice. "How else are you going to get up there?" There was a pause as I looked away, and he continued to talk. "According to you, your bike is trashed, and it's a seven day trip even if you ride on your fastest pokemon. Kyle, I am trying to help you."

"Well…" I spoke, standing up and bracing myself. "I'll think about it, Bill."

I walked over to my clothes, stumbling as I fell into the table. "Arggg."

"Here, Kyle." Bill spoke as I turned my head to look at him. He was standing up, holding out a crutch in one hand. "The nurses said for me to give it to you when you woke up."

I looked at the crutch in a disgusted way as I glanced back up to Bill. "I'm not going to use that!" I stood up, untying the gown as I slipped on my shirt. The pain was so great that when I went to lift my arm I winced, but I was able to get it on. Luckily I wasn't naked under my gown, I still had my boxers on, so getting dressed with Bill's help wasn't that embarrassing. I took the sling off then slipped on my pants and shoes. I tried to stand and put on my book bag with the pokeballs in it, but I found myself holding onto Bill's shoulder. When that was done he helped me as we walked. Pichu sidestepped all this and watched for a little bit before scurrying back up to my head.

"Please Kyle," Bill pleaded. "Will you please use the crutch? You're going to need it."

"I will not." I said, looking at the medal contraption.

"Why not?"

"It…" I paused. "Bill, it looks so stupid." I then shook my head. "I don't care how bad off I am, I am not going to use a crutch." Right then I tripped over my own feet, falling but catching myself on the way down. I struggled, but stood, with Bill's help.

"Well, what about a cane?" Bill asked.

"A cane?" I looked at him with a doubtful expression.

"Listen, Kyle. You can't even walk without me here. Heck I even helped you get dressed. What are you going to do when you fight the gym leader? Its not like she is going to let you lean on her as you are calling out orders."

"Yeah… I guess that's true." I said as we walked out of the room. "Well, what about you? Where are you going to be?"

"I figure it will take you at least and hour or two to patch things up with your pokemon and beat the gym. While you are doing that I shall be retrieving the airship."

"Where is the ship at?" I asked.

"Well, the police department said they transported them all to their headquarters in Mahogany. They also told me that I could come pick mine up any time."

"How exactly did you get them to give you one?" I asked. "I mean, I know that you are probably the most well-known person around, but how?"

"Well, Kyle, you don't get as powerful as me without digging up some dirt."

There was a slight silence as I looked at him. "Are you saying that you blackmailed the police department?"

"Not so much blackmail as debt. You see, the police department have some pokemon that they don't want people to know about, as well as other things. They will give me anything I want." He then glanced at me. "Even a drivers license when I was 14."

"So that's how you got that!" I huffed. "Man, I was so jealous of you when you got it, too."

"Anyway," Bill continued. "Once we get you a cane I shall use the Jeep as transportation and acquire the airship. From there I will return here to retrieve you." Bill smiled as we walked into the gift shop. "Like I said, it shouldn't take any longer than two hours. Oh yes, Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"There's something I need to tell you. About the pokeballs."

***_-Scene Change-_***

Arcanine and Umbreon were lying on the ground beside the door as Pidgeot stayed perched on the light pole of the hospital. Dragonite, however, as big as she was, was sitting on the bench, almost like a human would. Her tail draped around the bench, wrapping around the legs as she stared up at the sky.

"Hmm." I smirked as the automatic doors opened. "Well aren't you all a sight for sore eyes." As I walked out I saw all of them turn to look at me. _I know I must look strange. Arm around my ribs, sunglasses on, messed up hair with Pichu not helping things, green button-up shirt only half buttoned, black tie draped around my neck like a scarf, and sporting a black cane. I swear, I bet I look like a Pryce wanna-be or something._

Regardless what I looked like, however, they all jumped up, running and flying over to me. "Whoa!" I said, holding up the arm wrapped around my ribs. As I held out my hand they all slid to a halt, looking at me. "I'm happy to see you guys too, but you've got to be easy." I smiled. "I'm in a lot of pain, ya know?"

"Arf!" Arcanine barked, wagging his tail as he ran up to me, giving me so many licks on the face I almost lost my glasses.

"Hey, calm down boy!" I said laughing. When I did, however, the other three swarmed around me. Umbreon pawing at my leg and yipped while Dragonite and Pidgeot flew around my head, calling out the whole time.

"I know, I know!" I said laughing. "I missed you all too!" I then pulled away and looked at them. "But there is something I need to tell you guys." I then paused. "All of you. So will you help me find the rest of them?"

"Arf!" Arcanine said as he lowered down to let me on.

"Hmm." I smiled. "Thanks."

As I was climbing on his back the door to the hospital opened again. I watched Bill walk out of the doors, holding a phone to his ear. When he saw me he put down the phone, calling out. "I'll be back in a couple of hours!" He said, motioning to this green beat-up looking Jeep parked in the parking lot behind the hospital.

I glanced over at him, giving him a thumbs-up as Arcanine took off to the west, Pidgeot, Dragonite and Umbreon following close behind. Before long, the hospital vanished out of sight, as we rode down the almost deserted road that lead into town.

_This is strange._ I thought to myself. _Johto is such a weird place. This stretch of land looks almost like a desert. All dirt, and hardly any trees anywhere. On top of that, all I can see for miles are mountains. Bare, rocky mountains. _I lifted my arm that was bandaged up, wiping some sweat off my forehead. _When I first came here it was late February, and even then New Bark Town felt almost like a tropical area, with the weather at 50 degrees. Since then it had snowed in April while I was in Ecruteak, blazing hot in late May at Cianwood, and now Blackthorn is a desert trapped between the mountains? _

Up in the distance I saw faint little shapes come into view. I could make out houses, some trees, a few hut like things, and the PokeCenter. "Up there boy." I said, pointing to the building.

"Arf!" Arcanine barked as he ran at a steady pace, trying not to jostle me around too much.

When we got to the Poke Center I noticed that the place was deserted, at least from the outside. "This is strange." I said, hopping off of Arcanine as my other pokemon gathered around me. I glanced around, "There is always at least some one outside of the Poke Center." But there wasn't anyone. The bench was empty, no cars parked beside it, nothing.

"Oh well." I shrugged, taking a step forward onto the doormat of the center. The door opened, and inside I saw a Chansey with bandages all over it running from the side hall down the lobby and into the back, screaming out the whole time.

"Chansey! Chansey!"

I stood there, watching as the big pink pokemon ran around chanting. Soon a Nurse Joy, also covered in bandages, came running from the same area. "Down boy!" She screamed. "Down boy! Down!"

Then, out from the same hall I saw Kabutops, running after both of them with his sword like arms spread out wide. He had a goofy grin on his face as he chased them around the Center, laughing and smiling the whole time. "Bu! Tops-Tops-Tops!" he grinned.

"Kabutops!" I called out and a stern voice.

"Bu?" Kabutops stopped chasing them and turned to look at me. I saw both Nurse Joy and the Chansey run behind the front desk, grabbing a baseball bat as they hid. Kabutops looked at me strange for a while, then, almost as if it clicked with him, he put on the same smile and ran after me, arms spread out wide. "Bu-Tops-Tops-Tops!"

"STOP!" I screamed, holding out my good hand in front of me. The prehistoric pokemon stopped running, skidded to a stop in front of my feet, and sat down on the ground.

"Buuuuu…." He said in a low whimper as he began to tear up.

"I know, I know." I said with a smile as I kneeled down and rubbed his head. "I missed you too bud, but you cant go around hugging people." I smiled as he looked up to me. "Instead, lets use that as a move when we fight, okay?"

"Bu-Tops-Tops!" He smiled happily.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Nurse Joy come up to me with the baseball bat still in hand, using Chansey as a shield and hiding behind it. "So," she spoke. "Is that thing yours?"

"Yep." I smiled, picking up my cane from the ground as I pushed myself back up to my feet. "I know he can be a handful at times, but he is still a great pal. So, thanks for keeping him for me while I was in the hospital, I hope he wasn't too much of a handful."

"A handful?" Nurse Joy asked. "A handful? That thing ran off my customers for four days! The only thing that makes him stop cutting people is this baseball bat!"

"You have been hitting my pokemon?" I asked with a blank face.

"No, I don't need to." Joy said as she lowered it down. "All I have to do is show it to him and he stops." She huffed. "This proves why those things are extinct. And should be!"

"You know, for a Nurse Joy you are pretty hateful." I said. "Threatening and making fun of a pokemon that is 'special', and a little under average." I turned to walk out. "I'm glad my Kabutops ran away your customers. Because if they didn't run away from him then they definitely would have ran away from you."

"Bu-Bu-Bu-Bu!" Kabutops giggled.

"Come on, Kabutops." I said, limping out the door.

I walked outside as Arcanine lowered down for me, Pichu playing in his mane. When Kabutops saw Arcanine he came running up to him with a big smile and arms held out wide, but with one low growl from the massive dog Kabutops stopped dead in his tracks. I settled in, giving Arcanine a pat as he rose up. Right then the door to the center opened again and a fuming Nurse Joy ran out.

"Don't you ever come back to my PokeCenter again!" She screamed, shaking her fist. "You little hoodlum!"

"Hmph." I smirked, tilting my head and giving her a half wave. With that Arcanine turned around, heading into town.

***_-Scene Change-_***

When I got deeper into the almost western town I could already guess where Primeape and Raticate were, if only from the screaming and ranting that I heard. I rode up to this man in an apron who was standing outside of a deli. The man was a bit taller than me, wearing a hair net, and was on the fairly large size, _if you know what I mean._

"You darn dirty ape!" The man screamed as he threw a butcher knife down the alleyway between his store and some apartments. "You took it! You took it all!"

"Umm… sir?" I asked, from the back of Arcanine. The man turned around, red in the face from anger, and then looked at all my pokemon around me. "Whats' up?"

"You!" He pointed at me as he screamed. "You! You're a pokemon trainer, right?"

"Uh... yeah… I guess." I shrugged.

"Good!" The man then pointed his finger down the ally. "There is this darn stupid monkey that has been stealing all of my food for four days! And on top of that it has this rat with it that is bigger than a hog!" The man made a motion with his arms, trying to show how big the 'rat' was. "I'll make you a deal, if you can catch or kill those stupid things I'll give you and all your pokemon a free 'all you can eat buffet' meal!"

"Wow!" I said, as I chuckled to myself. _Oh what he would do if he only knew that I was their trainer. _"Well, I might hit you up on that later, but for now I've got to go find the gym leader."

"Wait!" The man pleaded. "Don't go! Those things have run my business into the ground, and it has only been four days! Just imagine what they could do in a year!" The man then ran up to Arcanine, who backed away a little bit, upset by the old beggar. "Please! I beg you! I'll give you anything you want, just get rid of those things!"

"Ahh…" I signed. "Alright, just give me a minute." I smiled as Arcanine lowered down, letting me off. I took my cane, limping over to the alleyway as I called down it. "Primeape!" I screamed. "Raticate! Get your butts down here!" I turned to see the man give me a shocked look as the big monkey came up and jumped in my arms. "Uph!" I groaned, falling on the ground backwards.

"Raf!" Arcanine leaped, jumping over the man and landing by my side. He then wrapped his jaws around Primape tossing him off of me.

"Arcanine!" I said. "Stop! He doesn't know I'm hurt."

"Prime…" Primeape stood up, shaking off some dirt as glared at Arcanine. "PRIME!" He charged.

"Fine Primeape." I said as I reached my hand into my pocket, taking out his pokeball. "I was going to wait, but you leave me no choice." I tossed the ball at him as he was sucked inside. The ball hit the ground, shook, and then stayed still. Arcanine helped me up, picking up my cane in his mouth and handing it to me as I made my way over to the pokeball. When I picked up the ball I saw my other pokemon flinch at the sight of it, but they acted fine when I put it away. "Now." I said looking back down the alleyway. "Raticate!" I said. "Come on! You get out here too!"

"Rat…" Raticate said, crawling out of the shadows.

"Come on, its okay." I said with a smile as I walked over to Arcanine. "It's okay, come on, I'm better now."

"Rat! Rat!" He chimed happily as he ran over to my side.

"Yeah, I'm happy to see you too." I patted him on the head as Arcanine lowered himself for me. As I climbed on his back, the fat man ran up to me.

"You mean to tell me that those were your pokemon the whole time?" He screamed.

"Well, yeah." I laughed.

"I aught to sue you!" He pointed at me as I began to turn away on Arcanine. "Property damage! Unlawful taking! Criminal acts! Vandalism!" The man kept screaming and ranting, all the way until we were out of town, _or maybe we were just too far away to hear him._

_But I do wander._ I thought as I held his pokeball in my hand. _Why was he acting like that? It is almost like he wasn't himself. Even back before he evolved he refused to fight, that is, if food wasn't involved. But nothing like that. For a second there, he reminded me of… Conner. _

Up ahead of us was a small patch of trees, and from a distance I could make out streaks of red and yellow moving around at a fast rate. When Arcanine got closer I could tell that it was Typhlosion, Scizors and Beedrill running around and bashing out attack after attack.

Typhlosion spun up into a Flame Wheel attack as Scizors crossed his arms in defense. As soon as the attack hit Beedrill swooped down, trying to stab a stinger into Typhlosion, but, Typhlosion anticipated this and dodged in a knick of time.

"Great job!" I said as they all stopped to look at me. "I am so proud of all of you!" I smiled.

"Ty!" Typhlosion beamed as he ran over to me and Arcanine on all fours. He then stood up on his hind legs, rubbing his head on my leg as I gave him a quick pet.

"Bee!" Beedrill bussed as he flew around my head.

"I missed you guys too." I smiled, then looked at Scizors. "And wow, Scizors, you have really changed haven't you?"

"Sc…" Scizors cocked his head, looking the opposite way as he leaned up against a tree.

"So we are back to that again?" I asked. "Ah, oh well. What can I expect after all that you guys have been through." All my pokemon then turned to look at me with sadness in their eyes, even Scizors. "But, that is part of what I need to tell you all, so lets go get Gyarados and Articuno and…"

_"You called?"_ A familiar female voice said as I felt a snowflake fall to my nose. I turned around to see Articuno standing beside Dragonite. _"I foresaw this."_ She said. _"Your Gyarados in which you seek is currently panicking tourist beside the waterfall on the other end of town."_

"Thanks." I smiled as I turned Arcanine around. "Scizors." I said, knowing that he was listening, though not facing me anymore. "All I ask is you hear me out. Then, you can do whatever you want." With that I nudged Arcanine, telling him to follow the nearby river upstream until we hit the waterfall.

As we all disappeared in the distance, Scizors stayed behind, watching us go.

***_-Scene Change-_***

We passed through town again, but this time we went on an alterative route, by passing the crazy fat man that ran the deli. On this new path, however, we were able to find the gym, _which I must say looked a lot bigger than any other gym I have ever seen._ Periodically I looked behind me, but, I saw no sign of Scizors.

I sighed. "Oh well…"

"Pi?" Pichu asked, popping his head out from Arcanine's mane. He gave a very funny face as he twisted his head, almost like he was confused.

"You silly little guy!" I chuckled, placing my good hand on his head and ruffling up his hair.

"Chaaa!" He smiled happily as he buried himself back inside of Arcanine's mane.

Before long we all made it over to the waterfall. It was this massive flow that dropped at least a thousand foot. As me and my pokemon rode up we watched tourists taking pictures.

"Oh honey!" A man in a tropical shirt said. He handed her the camera then ran over to stand by his son on the edge of the railing overlooking the waterfall. "Take a picture of us! For the album!"

"Agg…" They teenage boy groaned as he pulled up his headphones. He had long black hair, pulled back in a ponytail with tattoos all over him.

"Alright!" The large mother said as she held the camera. "Get closer together."

"Like… this?" The father beamed as he wrapped his arm around the boy. The boy struggled to get free, but failed. So he stood for the picture, even though he was really looking at all of my pokemon to the side of his mother.

"Alright!" The mother said as she began to countdown. "On the count of three. One. Two. Thre…" It was right then that Gyarados began to stick his big head out of the waterfall. His mouth was open, and his eyes were narrowed. Water ran from the falls into his mouth, creating a rainbow as he crept closer to them.

"Well, what are we suppose to say, honey?" The father asked with a smile. "How about Cheeseburger?"

"Monster!" The mother screamed.

"Um… okay honey." The father said as he took a deep breath. "Monster!" He then looked over to his son who didn't say anything. "Marvin?"

"Ahh…" Marvin sighed. "Monster… whooohhhooo!"

"No!" The mother screamed as she pointed behind them. "Monster!"

It was then that Marvin and the father turned around. Their faces went as white as their mothers when Gyarados began to give a wild looking toothy grin.

"Gar, Gar, Gar!" He chucked. He then opened his mouth and sprayed them all down with a Water Gun attack.

"Ahh!" They all three screamed as they ran away. "Monster! Monster!"

"I told you we should have drove!" Marvin said.

"Shut up! And keep running!" Both parents screamed as they ran out of sight.

I waited until they were out of sight, then I turned to look at the massive serpent that slithered in front of me out of the waterfall. "So is this what you have been doing for the past four days?" I scolded.

"Gara! Gara!" Gyarados nodded as he slithered over to me and licked me on the face.

"Yeah, I'm happy to see you too." I said with a smile. "But I have something to tell you." I then looked around, still not seeing Articuno and Scizors. "I wanted to wait till all of you got here, but I guess I can tell you now."

_"Not just yet."_ Articuno said as she fluttered down beside me. _"There is still one member of the party missing."_

"Well I don't think Scizors is coming." I said, nudging Arcanine to let me down.

"_I wouldn't be so sure."_ She turned around, looking to the sky. In the distance I saw a red dot that seemed to get bigger and bigger. Before long I saw that it was Scizors, and he landed down about fifty feet away from me. He cocked his head, like he always did, and then leaned up on the side of a cliff.

"Good." I said as I stood up on my own, taking my cane and walking over to the railing. "There is a lot I need to say." I started. "First off, I am sure you all saw from the beginning that Ricky was not a good guy. Trust me, I did too, but I never thought he was capable of all he did. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." I looked around, and then lowered my head. "And, as you all might have also noticed, we are short one member of our team. Ricky, or Conner, was a member of Team Rocket, and right from under my nose he stole all of you from me. I never meant for that to happen, but luckily I got almost all of you back safe." I then raised my head as tears rolled down my face. "I don't know how else to say this, so I'm just going to. Magcargo is dead, and its all my fault. I couldn't save him." I began to weep. "I tried, but he wouldn't listen to me at all. Conner had completely brainwashed him, and now we will never see him again."

I sobbed for a moment before Arcanine walked over too me. He nudged my chin with his nose, and then licked my face, licking up all the tears that had collected on my cheeks.

I halfway smiled. "Thanks, bud." I wiped my face with my sleeve as I continued. "Now, this brings me to my next order of business." I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pokeball. When I did this I saw all my pokemon except for Arcanine, Articuno, Gyarados, and Pichu flinch. "Don't worry." I said, as I laid the ball on the ground. "To keep you safe Bill destroyed all of your old pokeballs and made you new ones. These new balls are not like any other. For one, they will automatically send you to Professor's Oaks lab, where you all used to go. And second, these pokeballs only work on you guys." I ran my good hand through my hair. "Now, because your old ones were destroyed, that means I have to re-catch you. But, after this ordeal, I can understand if you don't want to. I can understand if you never trust me again." I felt my eyes water again. "After all that I have let happen to you… I… I…"

_WHOOSH!_ Out of nowhere I felt a cold flow of water drench me from head to toe. I turned around, looking at Gyarados. _I didn't know whether to be mad at him or thank him for pulling me out of crying._ "Ahh…" I signed. "Thanks, I needed that." I then turned back to my other pokemon. "Now, I can understand if you don't want to be caught by me again. And because of that, you are free to leave right now if you want to."

"Gyar! Gyar! Gyar!" Gyarados cackled as he swam over to me, running his massive head against my good arm.

"Thanks." I said with a smile. "I guess that means you're in." I reached my hand into my pocket and pulled out his pokeball. I pressed it to his nose, and he was sucked inside. It shook once in my hand, a second time, and then sealed shut.

"Arf!" Arcanine barked as he walked towards me.

"Pi!" Pichu said as well, riding on his back.

"Alright." I put my book bag down, dug in there until I found a necklace. I pulled it out, and on it was Arcanine's new Pokeball. As Pichu hopped off I touched it to the dog's nose. He was sucked inside. It shook once, then twice, and closed shut as I worked the necklace over my head.

"Pi! Pi!" Pichu pleaded as I reached into my book bag again.

"Okay, you too." I smiled, placing the ball to his head. He was sucked inside. It shook once, then twice, and closed as well. But when I went to pick it up, the pokeball opened again.

"PIcha! Pichu!" He said holding up his fist in a victorious way.

"So you are still going to stay outside of your ball?" I asked.

"Pi, Pi." He turned around and gave me a wink, before running up on my shoulder. One by one my pokemon walked or flew up to me, and one by one they were sucked inside their pokeballs, that is, except Scizors and Articuno.

I glanced over at Articuno. "Well, I guess that you don't want to stay with me anymore?" I sighed. "You know, Team Rocket is gone, so there isn't anyone else out there that knows about you, or would hunt you down. You are free to go if you want."

"_Kyle."_ She spoke softly. _"I have foreseen a time when you will need me, and I have also foreseen a time when I must depart from you. But this is not the moment that I have foreseen."_ She then nodded over to Scizors. _"The reason why I am out here is because your Scizors has lost all respect for you. He told me when I stayed back to reason with him into coming."_

"Oh…" I looked down. "Well, I can understand that. What do I need to do?"

"_He would like a battle with you." _She said as she turned back to me. _"Depending on how the outcome will go is whether or not he will accompany you in your travels."_

I looked past here and yelled to the red pokemon that stood far away from us. "Is that true Scizors? If I battle you then you will consider joining me again?"

Scizors turned his head to face me, and then un-crossed his arms. He spread his wings, taking off into the sky as he landed a few yards in front of me.

"What pokemon does he want me to use?" I asked Articuno.

"Sciz-ors!" He called out.

"_Umbreon." _Articuno spoke as she looked back to me.

"Umbreon, huh?" I said looking back to him with a smile. "Alright, if you want." I reached on my belt, pulling off his pokeball. "Go, Umbreon!" I watched as the ball flew from my hand. It hit the ground and Umbreon popped up. The ball then floated back to me as I caught it and put it back on my belt. _Wow, that is a nice feature._

Scizors made the first move, so by instinct I called out, "Quick Attack left!" I watched Umbreon move to the left, but not very fast. Soon he was hit with a hard Iron Head attack in the side. It spun him around, skidding on the dirt as he shook his head.

"Why didn't that work?" I asked aloud, not really expecting a reply.

"_Within the time your pokemon were out of your care they learned new moves."_ Articuno answered._ "Your Umbreon replaced that move with one called Last Resort."_

"Last Resort, huh?" I said as Scizors put his arms in an x-like formation. "I know that move, but I have to use his other moves first. Umbreon!" I called out. "Sand Attack!"

Scizors charged at Umbreon, but when he got close enough Umbreon turned around, using his hind legs to spray up dirt in Scizor's eyes. Scizor flinched and stopped his attack, covering his eyes with his massive pinchers. Umbreon did the attack again, this time creating a cloud of dust that was so thick it was impossible to see through it.

"Now!" I said. "Use Bite!"

With that I heard a loud crunch sound and then a whimper that came from Umbreon. I watched, unsure if Umbreon was okay or not as Scizors flew up into the air, putting his arms back in the x-shape.

"Shadow Ball!" I said. With that a massive purple ball of energy shot out of the dust, heading straight for Scizors, but he dodged in the air. Scizors then looked to where the energy ball had come from. He began to flap his wings violently, clearing out the dust, revealing a very hurt, and almost knocked out Umbreon.

"SCI-ZORS!" He screamed as he charged at the badly beaten fox.

"Last Resort!" I called out.

Umbreon's eyes began to glow a bright purple as an orb of dark energy pulsed out of him. It was so powerful that it made a small crater where Umbreon was standing, leaving him floating in the air where the ground use to be. He lifted up his head and released all the energy into one massive stream that struck Scizors hard. But Scizors flew straight through it, acting like nothing had happened. I watched in horror as Umbreon was hit with an X-Scissor attack to the face. He flew out of the crater from the recoil of the attack, landing a few feet away. From then, he didn't move.

When I recalled Umbreon I watched the damaged and barely walking Scizor exit the crater as well. "Well." I said I a glum way. "Scizors, it was nice meeting you. I really enjoyed having you on my team." I let my head sink down. "But, a deal is a deal. You won, so you can go."

"Sci-Sciz-or, Or-Siz." I lifted my head up and he continued. "Scizors-Sciz, Sc-Ors, Siz. Scizors."

I looked over to Articuno with a questioning look.

"_He said that you fought well." _She said before continuing. _"He said that he fought a pokemon that was much weaker than him so he see how you would react."_

I looked back to Scizors.

"Sciz." He spoke as he walked over to me, placing one of he massive claws on my shoulder. "Sciz-Scizors, Sciz."

"_He said that he would be honored to have you as his trainer."_

A smile went from ear to ear on my face as my eyes began to water in happiness. "Thank you Scizors." I said, wiping my eyes with my shirt again. "Thank you." With that I held up his pokeball. He pushed the button with his claw as he was sucked back inside. It shook once, twice and then locked shut.

"Well." I said, looking back to Articuno. "I guess you're the only one left."

"_What about Primeape?"_ She asked. _"What do you plan to do about his behavior?"_

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

She looked at me blankly before speaking. _"I am a talking bird that can see the future, read minds, and speak telepathically to whomever I want at any given time._" She then cocked her head the other way. _"You must have gotten hit on the head harder than I thought."_

"Oh shut up." I said. "But to answer your question, I really don't know."

"_Have you thought about letting him run free?"_

"Are you joking?" I asked. "He would get killed!" I then paused and looked down. "I hate to admit it, but… I think he needs a better trainer than me."

Articuno looked at me blankly before nodding. _"Kyle, I am so very proud of you right now."_

"What?" I asked. "Why?"

"_Because you have finally realized you have met your match with a pokemon."_ She then looked to the sky.

"So, what do you know?" I asked. "If you can see the future, what do I do?"

"_You do what you want to do." _She spoke calmly. _"I told you once before, your future is not laid out for you, you have to choose what to do. And what you choose will affect everything."_ She then looked back to me. _"Even the people you didn't think it would."_

I looked at her strangely before speaking. "You're giving me a hint, aren't you?"

I saw her smile. _"So you have been learning things about me, haven't you?"_ She then turned me around, and stuck her head in my book bag. She slowly picked Pichu up out of it and put him on the ground.

"Pi?" He cheeped, looking up at her from the ground, tilting his head as he did.

"What are you doing?" I asked. When I did she pulled her head out and placed something in my hand. When she pulled back I saw that it was a pokeball.

"_I'm ready." _She said as she made her way in front of me.

"Thanks." I smiled. "For everything."

"_Don't thank me yet." _She smiled back as I placed the ball to her. _"We still have another three years left together."_ With that she was sucked inside. The ball shook in my hand, then closed shut.

I smiled, looking at the ball as Pichu climbed back up on my shoulder. "So, three years is when I'm going to need you again?" I looked up to the sky. "I wish I knew if that's going to be a good thing or bad."


	27. Clair and Her Dragonair

**Chapter 26**

**Clair and Her Dragonair**

I pulled on Arcanine's mane, bringing him to a stop outside of the pokecenter. He kneeled down, letting me and Pichu off as I took my cane. "Thanks bud." I said, scratching behind his ear as I recalled him to his pokeball. _I know there wasn't any real reason to recall him, I mean, I am going to keep him in my party. _

I spun around on my heel, limping on my cane as I walked through the door, Pichu on my shoulder. The lights were dim, and it took a second for my eyes to adjust, but when they did I saw Nurse Joy was behind the counter, looking at me with a very hateful look.

_Oh yeah…_ I thought to myself as I remembered those harsh words I said to her only moments ago. "Well, looks like healing my pokemon is out of the question."

"Darn right it is!" She screamed. "You loud mouthed hoodlum!"

"Okay, fine." I waved my hand, brushing her off as I sat down at the PC system. _Now, lets think._ I put my hand to my chin. _All I know about this gym leader is that they are a dragon trainer. Dragonite would have a great advantage, but also be at a disadvantage because dragon is weak against dragon. Most dragons are flying or water types, so an electric pokemon would be good. _I turned my head around, looking at Pichu. He was rummaging through my book bag with his butt up in the air and his head buried deep down inside the bag. _Well, I guess that's a possibility._ I turned back to the computer. _Better yet, it is the only advantage I am going to have in this match._

I reached into my pockets, belt, and book bag, moving Pichu out of the way. Then I deposited all my pokemon except Arcanine, Pichu, Dragonite, Primeape, Kabutops, and Scizors.

"Hmph." I smiled. "I sure bet Oak is going to be surprised to see an Articuno at his place when the transfer goes through." I stood up, taking my cane as Pichu jumped in my book bag, still digging around for something. I walked out of the pokecenter, took the pokeball from my necklace and released Arcanine. "Well, you ready boy?" I asked with a pat on his side as he laid down.

"Woof!" He barked as I climbed on. But when I did I saw his ears twitch. His head turned to the sky in the north-west. For a moment it was silent, but then I heard it too. This low humming noise coming from over the mountains, and it kept getting louder, and louder. Eventually I saw this massive air ship peak its way over the cliffs. The metal contraption was bigger than any plane or boat I had ever seen, even bigger than the S.S. Anne. I watched as it came down, really fast. The thing was going in too fast. It passed over us, and decreased altitude rapidly, but not speed. Arcanine, Pichu and I watched as the ship touched down, skidding around on the desert floor and came to a stop probably a half-mile away from where it first landed.

Arcanine tilted his head and looked at me, almost like he was asking what we should do.

"Ahh…" I groaned. "I just hope that wasn't Bill's 'amazing flying skills'." I patted Arcanine on the side. "Come on boy, let's go check it out."

"Arf!" With that we took off, heading the way of the downed ship.

***_-Scene Change-_***

By the time we got there the dust had already settled, and we could see the full extent of the damage. The ground had a large indention where the ship had touched down that stretched nearly half a mile. The ship, though it looked like it had been through the ringer a couple times, did still seem to be intact.

We rode around to the side of it, looking at all the dents and scratches that covered the paint, body, and frame. In bright red paint, visible under the cover of dust, was a giant "R" painted on the side. Painted over that, however, in what looked like blue spray paint was a line under the "R" connecting the two legs together, forming a "B" shape. Painted as an extension to that I saw the letters "ILL".

"Oh great." I said, shaking my head. "Bill."

"You rang?" A voice echoed from above. I looked up and saw Bill sitting on the edge of the airship's wing, nearly one hundred feet up. "Hey, Kyle. I am… um… kinda…"

"Stuck?" I finished the sentence. "Just hang on, I'll get you down." I reached down for my belt, pulling off Dragonite's pokeball. "Come on out, girl!" I tossed out the ball as Dragonite flew into the air and landed beside me.

"Draaaa." She almost purred, rubbing her head against my face.

"Its nice to see you too." I said with a smile. I then pointed up to Bill on the air ship. "Could you go get him down for me?"

"Dra!" She took off into the air, flying up to the wing of the ship in lighting speed. _I think she actually surprised Bill with her speed, because I saw him jump when she landed beside him._ Bill climbed on her back slowly and she brought him back down, letting him off before I recalled her.

"So," I asked, putting Dragonite's ball back on my belt. "Was that your idea of being a 'good flyer'?"

"I know it looks a little sloppy," Bill started. "But hear me out. That type of air ship was made to land in water."

"Yeah, that doesn't make me feel any better." I offered my hand to him from Arcanine's back. He took it, and climbed on as we took off back into the city.

"Trust me, nothing was damaged when I landed it." Bill said, trying to soften the mood. "But hey, that was my first time, I know I can do it the next time."

"Well, forgive me if I bring Dragonite with me on the flight." I said, watching as the town began to come into focus on the horizon. "Just in case you're flying skills aren't as good as your hacking."

"So…" Bill paused. "Where are we going?"

"I need to get my gym badge."

"But I've been gone for almost two and a half hours. What have you done in that time?"

I smiled. "Do you want the long version, or the short?"

"I guess I'll take the easy version." Bill said with a groan.

"Alright, got back my pokemon, scared some tourists, got the Nurse Joy here to hate me, and a deli man is probably going to sue me if I go back into town."

Bill looked at me jaw dropped. "Wow. You never stay out of trouble do you?"

"What's the fun in that?" I laughed.

Taking the alternate route we made it to the gym in minutes. When we arrived Arcanine lowered down, letting me and Bill off. I took my cane as Pichu hopped on my left shoulder. Bill, oddly enough, started digging through his book bag. I watched for a moment before recalling Arcanine.

"Well," I said, limping up to the gym. "I'm going on in. You have fun."

"Oh, good luck." Bill said, without looking up from his computer. "I'm just checking the schematics for the airship's landing gears."

I paused for a second, then shook off the thought. _If I think about this anymore I'll back out of letting him fly me and never get to the league in time. _The doors opened automatically as I walked up to them. Inside the gym I noticed that it didn't just look big from the outside, the inside was massive as well.

The building was two stories tall, with at least four stories underground, and all of them were open roofed, so it was like one giant room. The ground levels were divided by walls, separating the boiling water, which was colored red, either to represent blood or lava. These walls also had railings and some kind of mathematical gears which seemed to move and form a puzzle maze type thing.

I glanced up, looking at the other end of the massive room. "There." I saw her. The gym leader. On the far side of the gym sat a very tall lady with blue hair, pulled back in a ponytail. She was sitting on a throne made of stone in the shape of a mound of Dragonair. Two Dragonair heads made the armrests as three circled around the top of it, forming a halo crown with their wings and necks.

I then looked back down. _This gym is nothing but a big maze._ I watched as trainer after trainer tried to figure out the combinations of the floor, but with each try, the floor shifted and turned, sending them back further than they were before. I stood there for about fifteen minutes, watching the movements of the walkways. _I was good at these things, not so much with memory games, but I was good at figuring out patterns. That's how I always won those stupid slot machines in Kanto, and why I always got kicked out for winning too much. But, this isn't fair._ Within those few minutes of watching I figured out the little maze. I glanced back up to the gym leader, and reached for Dragonite's pokeball around my belt. I threw it on the ground, releasing her and putting the ball back.

"Come on." I said, hopping on her back. "Go over there." I then pointed to the gym leader. Dragonite took off, flying straight at the woman, and came to an instant stop when we were within feet of her. The woman raised an eyebrow at us as Dragonite lowered down, letting me off. "You!" I said to her. "I challenge you to a gym battle."

"I am sorry, Mr. Gray." She spoke calmly as she crossed her legs, put an elbow on her armrest, and shoved her chin into her palm. "But if you wish to fight me you must first figure out the riddle in my 'puzzling maze'."

"I did figure it out, and I think that is a low down lousy trick." I pulled my sunglasses off of my regular glasses as I spoke. "There is no way to win that maze puzzle, or whatever you called it. No matter what combination you choose you will always end up right back where you started. You can never get to the final walkway, which leads to you."

"Bravo…" She said, clapping. "Congratulations Mr. Gray, you are the first one today that has figured that out." She then looked over my shoulder to this kid and his Bayleaf. "That poor child has been at it for hours, too. I could have sworn he would be the next one to figure it out. But, no matter." She stood and walked over to the Dragonite statue beside the throne. "If you don't mind, Mr. Gray, please follow me." She pulled down one of its arms, and like in the movies, the throne, and the wall behind it, moved out of the way showing an open room. This room was laid out like all the other gyms I had been in; field in the center, benches around like an arena, and lights that beamed down. _Actually, this feels more like when I was back in the League, fighting for a chance at the Elite Four. Most gyms don't have all of this._

I watched as the gym leader walked over to a microphone stationed on her side of the arena, as well as another throne just like the previous one. She sat down, grabbing the microphone and calling out over the entire gym.

"A challenger has just solved the 'Puzzling Maze'!" The words echoed through the gym. "All trainers who wish to challenge me, and are in the gym, must report to the _Arena_ _Area,_ post haste! If you do not show, you will be disqualified from receiving a _Rising Badge_, which if you do not know, will also disqualify you from attending the _Johto Pokemon League!_" With that she turned off the microphone and stood up. "So, Mr. Gray, I take it you are used to an audience?"

"Yes I am." I said as I watched people start to pile in from the side doors to the benches. _There were a lot more people in there then I'd thought, about 20 or so._

"Let me introduce myself." The woman bowed as both our podiums rose up above the ground about fifteen feet or so. "I am Clair, '_Dragon Trainer Extraordinaire'."_

"Well, I would tell you my name, but you seem to already know it." I said as I stared at her. "How?"

"So, how is my spoiled cousin, Mr. Gray?" She asked, ignoring my question.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"You don't know who he is?" She cut me off. "Its understandable. The only thing we share in common is our title, the title that was originally mine." She then turned her head and looked away. "Lance was always such a spoiled 'perfect' child. Whatever Lance wanted Lance got, because father loved his brother's son more than his own daughter."

"Um… I'm… sorry?"

"He tricked me." She said, slamming her hand down on her raised throne as she sat. "I went easy on him, giving him a sporting chance and letting him beat me. Little did I know that he had the media right outside of the gates, watching the whole time. I was the one that was in the running for the Elite Four, but when they saw I was defeated by a him, they booted me out, said he showed more, 'potential'." She stood up again. "And now here I am, stuck! In this gym! Fighting trainers that know nothing of the hardships it takes to become and defend the title of the most powerful trainer in the Elite Four!"

"Look, I'm sorry for your… unresolved father issue things, but I'll be sure to beat your cousin for his title again this year after I beat you, okay?"

"You will not be fighting him in the Elite Four this year, I am afraid." She then sat back down, trying to calm herself. "The fool dumped it all. He dropped out of the Elite Four, and entered as a trainer in the Johto League."

"What?" I asked confused. "Why?"

"Tell me, Mr. Gray, have you been hearing anything of my cousin?"

"No, not at all." I shook my head.

"He dropped the most elite group of pokemon trainers so he could fight you in the preliminaries." She smiled. "Smiting you down before you even got to the Elite Four."

"Well, I guess that's good for me." I smiled. "That means I won't have to listen to his annoying bickering next time during the final match."

"If you make it that far." I saw her smile. "You see, he stripped my titled from me on that fateful day, but it is on this day that I gain it back. By defeating the person that plowed him into the ground!" She then began to laugh. "What a marvelous day this will be! They might even let me replace him in the Elite Four!" She then reached for the microphone, pulling it down to her face and turning it on. "This will be a three on three match for a Rising Badge!" Her voice echoed over the speakers. "Challenger, Kyle Gray, has the option of the first move."

I smiled. _I know that trick, trying to see what I choose first for the type advantage. Thanks but no thanks. _"Please, ladies first." I said, holding my hand out offering the move to her.

"As you wish." She took a pokeball off her throne. When she did I felt the ground under the podium shake. A vent opened up, and before long the lower bottom half of the gym was covered in water. She threw the pokeball out, and into the water went a large Kingdra. The sea dragon dove and swam, soon vanishing under the rippling water. "Well, Mr. Gray, you haven't got all day do you? The League is only a week away after all!"

_Lets see. Kingdra, Kingdra. Evolves from Seadra, is an excellent swimmer, and is not weak to electric, though it is effective, just not as effective, which means the only type advantage I would have is…_ I reached for the pokeball I just pulled off moments ago. "Go, Dragonite!" I threw the pokeball into the air as she flew out, flapping her wings and staying above the water.

"I knew you would use your Dragonite eventually, but I thought you might save it for last." She motioned her hand as she gave her order. "Kingdra, use Dragon Pulse."

"Dragonite! Dodge left and charge your energy!"

Kingdra leaped out of the water and took a deep breath as Dragonite stood her ground, focusing her energy. Kingdra began to flap its little wing like fins, keeping it above the water as it released a powerful wave of sky blue energy that looked almost like shock waves. The attack moved fast at Dragonite, but at the last second she dodged left.

"Now!" I screamed. "Hyper Beam!"

"Agility!" Clair screamed.

Dragonite opened her mouth releasing all the stored up energy she had collected during the last turn, forming it into a powerful beam that shot at Kingdra. Kingdra, in the air, tried to use agility, but its little fins were not meant to be used as wings. It was able to dodge the most of it, but was hit in the lower half, spinning it around and slamming it back into the water.

"Kingdra!" Clair called out. "Blizzard!"

"Oh crap!" _If Dragonite gets hit with that, she's done for. I got to think of something fast. She can't dodge that!_ I watched and saw the water in the pool began to have ice form on it. "That's it! Dragonite!" I pointed to the water. "Use Twister on yourself!"

In a nick of time Dragonite formed a twister of water around her. Kingdra jumped out of the water and began blowing ice in all directions, creating a frozen mist, which covered everything. The water in the gym turned to ice, and the twister as well. But when the attack was over Kingdra had nowhere else to go. It fell down, sliding on the ice as Clair stood up from her throne. "Looks like you are down one." Clair laughed.

"And it looks like you're just as foolish as your cousin." I said with a smile. "Overlooking everything and not bothering to train water pokemon on land. Dragonite!" When I called out for her there was a short silence, then the frozen twister in the middle of the gym began to crack. The crack ran down the side, chipping and shattering the twister as pieces of ice began to fall around it. When the frozen ruble stopped, there floated Dragonite, a little frozen up from the move, but still ready to fight.

"But how!" Clair screamed. "That should have frozen everything!"

"Now, Dragonite!" I called out. "End this with Dragon Rush!"

Dragonite began flapping her wings violently as she worked on building up the attack. She took off, like a bullet, heading straight for the flopping Kingdra, which laid on the icy pool. She lifted her arm, claws extended as she delivered the final blow, shattering the ice under Kingdra, as well as knocking it out. After that Dragonite flew back to my side of the now icy ring and perched on the guardrail of my podium.

"Whoa! Yeah! WoooHooo!" The crowd screamed and clapped.

"Ha!" Clair laughed. "You think that scares me? You think I am worried? I am not a fool like my cousin! Kingdra was my newest addition, and the weakest one in my party. I assure you, the rest will be more of a challenge."

"I hope so." I yawned. "Because if they're not you might as well just give me the badge now."

"Ooooooo!" I heard the crowd call out.

I saw Clair's face turn red in anger as she mumbled something under her breath. She then threw out her next pokemon. The ball landed on the ice, and out came something that made me think, _déjà vu_. A Gyarados slithered on the ice, inspecting the frozen plane as it glanced at Dragonite.

"Alright." I nodded to her again. "You're still in there, girl."

"Dra!" Dragonite flew down, landing on the ice hard enough to shake down the remainder of any ice on her wings.

"Lets end this fast." Clair said. "Thunderbolt!"

"Dragonite! Hyper Beam!" But she didn't have enough time to build up the power.

Gyarados opened its mouth, letting out a beam of lighting like I had never seen before. The beam looked almost like a cannon. It struck as Dragonite was ready to release her attack. The Hyper Beam shot out, but fizzled away in the power of the massive Thunderbolt. When the attack was over Dragonite fell to her knees, breathing hard but still in the game, barely.

"What a surprise." Clair chuckled. "Seems like you trained that thing better than I gave you credit for. Gyarados, turn that back into a water field for me."

"What?" I watched as her Gyarados opened its mouth, this time letting out a Flamethrower attack that began to melt away at the icy gym. _All the ice is melting fast, and I know that Dragonite isn't going to make it through much more. _I reached for her pokeball as I recalled her.

"So, are you giving up?" Clair barked.

"Not a chance." I smiled, putting down my book bag. "I still haven't lost a single pokemon in this battle, and you are only down to two. My next choice is…" I put down my cane as I began to dig through my bag. "Come on…" I groaned. "Where are you? Ah! There you are." I smiled, pulling out Pichu who had a snack cake in his paws, and chocolate all over his face.

"Pi?"

"Aw!" I heard the audience coo, but Clair didn't have the same reaction.

"That?" She and her Gyarados both began to laugh. "That! That is what you traded out your Dragonite for? You would have been better off fighting me with it, but no you choose a mouse! Haha!"

"Pi…" Pichu huffed in anger as he squirmed to get free.

"Hold it." I whispered. "Listen to me. That Gyarados is big, but one good Volt Tackle will take it down. What I want you to do is Double Team as soon as you get down there and hide somewhere. No matter what I say, when the time is right give it all you got and Volt Tackle it."

"Pi?" Pichu tilted his head at me.

"Come on, don't do me that way." I chuckled. "I'm counting on you. Help me Pichu, you are my only hope."

"Pi!" Pichu's eyes lit up as he remembered that line from one of his favorite movies. "Pi! Pichu!" He put his little paw to his chocolate covered face in a salute.

"That's my little bud." I ruffled up his hair. "Now, remember, give it your all when you get the chance."

"Pi!"

"There is no need to whisper!" Clair yelled as she wiped a tear away from her eye. "Well, better yet, go a head and scheme, its not like the wannabe rat could do anything anyway!" She began to laugh again.

"Oh yeah?" I spat. "We'll show you." I looked down at Pichu who was standing on edge of the new pool. I nodded to him as he nodded to me, then I saw him vanish. Soon his old position was replaced with an illusion of his self. _Perfect, just like we planned. Man, I hope this works._

"Please! Let the little _'Mighty Mouse'_ go first!" Clair laughed.

"Alright." I nodded with a smile. "Pichu! Quick Attack!"

I watched as the illusion of Pichu took off, running and ramming itself into Gyarados. It hit, bounced off, and then tried it again, and again, it bounced off. Gyarados looked confused. _If I were to guess it would be because it is an illusion and Gyarados didn't feel anything at all, it was like it never happened._ But Clair didn't catch on to this. She was on her throne laughing the entire time.

"That! That!" She laughed so hard she couldn't get it out. "That little thing didn't even- That- That- It just bounced off! Haha!"

I watched as Gyarados turned its head, watching as the fake Pichu ran up the side of a wall and stood there, defying gravity. Gyarados tilted its head, watching as the Pichu stuck out its tongue and pulled down its eyelid. Right then, the real Pichu emerged from under Clair's pedestal, ramming into Gyarados with a full throttle Volt Tackle that even sizzled the railings, shocking both me and Clair, making us jump.

Clair ran to the side, looking over the railing to see her Gyarados floating lifelessly in the water. Pichu, however, was gone, hiding out somewhere as his decoy was still standing in the same spot as before, seemingly defying gravity.

I slapped my head. _Nice Pichu. Yeah, you knocked the thing out, but now you have your dummy standing on the side of a wall._

"How…" Clair looked at the mouse as it began to run around the walls. It ran to the corner, onto the other wall and right up to Clair, who jumped back on her throne. "S-stay away from me!" She screamed. Pichu's illusion just looked at her for a while, then smiled and jumped on her.

"Ahhh!" She screamed and closed her eyes. "I hate mice! Get it-… huh?" When she opened her eyes, Pichu was gone. She ran over to the edge and looked down. There, standing on the water, walls, and even playing tag were about seventy or eighty Pichu, all running around.

"Oh… I see." Clair glared. "I see what this is. You are trying to make me look like a fool in my own gym! You are toying with me! Using cheap tricks to fool me!" She screamed, reaching for her next pokeball. "Well I am not playing anymore. This is my most powerful Pokemon, and it will see through any kind of illusion you can dish out! Go, Dragonair!"

The pokeball flew out and the dragon serpent slithered into the water, passing straight through about ten Pichus, making them vanish on contact.

"Dragonair!" She called out. "Dragon Rage!"

I saw the water began to bubble as the Dragonair leaped up, out of the depths of the shallow water. It began to spiral in the air as it pulsed out blue flames that twirled and covered the entire gym. Soon, one by one, all the Pichu's began to vanish, leaving not a single one. But the real Pichu, was nowhere to be found. Dragonair sunk down into the water, and slithered up to the surface, scanning the field for any signs of the little mouse. I watched as Dragonair turned its head, and Pichu made his move. He launched himself, from under my pedestal this time, covered in electricity. He ran on the wall, jumping and throwing himself at Dragonair. I saw Dragonair's head turn; it got sight of Pichu flying at it. It opened its mouth, turned its body and caught Pichu in midair. The discharge went through its body, hurting it, but it bit down hard on Pichu.

"Piii!" Pichu cried out.

"So that's where it was?" Clair spat. "Use Slam and end this."

"Pichu! Thunderbolt!"

Pichu was able to get in one last thunder attack before Dragonair punched him through the wall, knocking him out instantly, but also doing damage to itself. I dug out his pokeball, returning him from the pool's edge.

"You did great little bud." I said, putting him in my pocket. "But Clair, this battle is far from over. Come on back out!" I threw out the pokeball as Dragonite entered the field yet again. She was badly hurt and barely flying, but so was the Dragonair. They both look like they couldn't go on for another minute.

"Please, again? Was it not enough that my weak Gyarados beat it? Now you want my most powerful one to take a shot at it?" She waved her hand. "Fine, have it your way."

"Dragonite! Dragon Rush!"

"Dragonair! Blizzard!"

I watched as Dragonite took off after Dragonair. Both pokemon released their attacks. Dragonite's hit first, but she was soon frozen solid by Dragonair's attack. Dragonair took the Dragon Rush attack, spun around, but was still able to freeze everything in the gym once more.

I lifted the pokeball, recalling Dragonite. "I'm sorry." I said, under my breath to her. "I'm sorry I sacrificed you, but I had no other choice, I needed the rest of this battle to be on solid ground." I put her pokeball away as I reached for my last pick. "Go, Kabutops!"

I heard the crowd go silent as the prehistoric pokemon appeared on the stage. He tilted his head around, looking at the people, and then looked back at the Dragonair. Dragonair looked right back at him, but in a way that didn't catch his attention very much. "Bu!" He smiled, turning back to the people in the audience as he began to do a little dance. Hopping on one foot, swinging his sword like arms around, then hopping on the other foot and doing the same thing. During this dance he also started singing. "Ka-Bu-Tops! Bu-bu- bu TOPS! Ka-bu-Tops! Bu-bu-bu- TOPS!"

"What is this, a circus act?" Clair demanded.

"Kabutops!" I screamed.

"Bu?" He then lifted his head to look at me. "Buuuuu!" He smiled.

"Hey look at that Dragonair." I pointed as Kabutops turned to look. "It is really sad. Do you think you could cheer it up?"

"Bu?" He turned to look at me as his black beady little eyes began to get big. "Bu! Bu-TOPS!"

In speed as quick as a Quick Attack, Kabutops made it over to Dragonair and opened its arms wide. Dragonair, shocked and not sure what to do, slithered away as he closed his arms around the chunk of ice that was behind it. The miniature iceberg was then sliced in half by Kabutops big bear hug. Kabutops opened his eyes, looked at the ice, and then turned around, unsure of what happened to Dragonair.

"Dragonair!" Clair called out. "Use Ice Beam on that… thing."

When Dragonair came out to attack, Kabutops was able to target it again. "Bu! Tops! Tops!" Kabutops ran after Dragonair as it opened its mouth and blew an Ice Beam, which covered Kabutop's chest and arms, turning them to ice. Both Clair and Dragonair however, looked surprised when they saw that Kabutops wasn't going to stop! Kabutops ran up to Dragonair, locking it into a big bear hug and smacking it hard with the frozen ice that was on his swords and chest. Dragonair, being weak to ice, was knocked out before the ice on Kabutops arms shattered under the pressure of the hug, The blades came down, cut into Dragonair's thick skin and made it whine, before Clair recalled it.

"Bu?" Kabutops said, looking up to her as I recalled him too.

Clair didn't say anything to me. I watched as she dropped the pokeballs down at her throne and pushed a button, draining the water and lowering our pedestals. I picked up my book bag, grabbed my cane, and limped over to her once the water and ice were gone. On my way over to her I saw the trainers leave, through the doors they came out of.

"Hey, nice match." I said, offering my hand to her in a friendly shake.

She didn't say anything, just glared at me and slammed a badge in my hand. "The exit is over there." She said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder as she walked away. I shrugged putting the pin in my pocket and walked out of the back exit.

The sun was bright, and it took me a minute to realize my sunglasses weren't on. So, I put them back over my glasses. I was in the back, behind the gym, next to the base of a large mountain.

"Now this is a pickle." I said to myself as I limped around to the other side of the building where Bill was waiting on me. "Dragonite and Pichu really need to be healed, but the Joy here hates me."

For a person who limped, I moved pretty fast. It wasn't but a minute or two that I made it around to the other side of the building, where Bill still sat on the bench. "Hey." I said, walking up to him.

"Oh, hey Kyle. How did you do?" He asked.

"I guess the best that a crippled person could do in a situation like this." I laughed.

"So I take it you won?"

I reached in my pocket, pulling out the badge and showing it to him. "The last one. Now we just need to make it up there."

"Yeah… about that." Bill paused. "I did some math… and…"

"And what?"

"Well, with the max speed of that ship it will take us about 9 hours to get there."

"Okay, how is that a problem?"

Bill paused. "Kyle, I'm hungry, okay? I have ate nothing but hospital food for four days! It sucks!"

"You're telling me that there isn't a kitchen somewhere on that jumbo thing you call a ship?"

"How the heck am I supposed to know? It took me thirty minutes to find the cockpit!"

"Okay, fine." I said, calming him down. "We'll get some food, and I'll cook us up something on the way."

"Are you sure?" Bill asked questionably. "How are you going to cook without a kitchen? That is, if we can't find one on there."

"I have cooked without a kitchen for years, I can do that no problem." I stood up, grabbing the pokeball around my neck and releasing Arcanine. "Hey, Bill? Would you mind doing me a favor?"

"What is it?" He replied as we rode on Arcanine.

"You know how I said I got the Nurse Joy here mad at me?"

"Yes?"

"Well, do you think you could run in there and give them my pokemon to heal? Its only two."

Bill didn't say anything for a while. "Eh…" He finally spoke up. "I suppose."

"Thanks Bill, you're a life saver."

***_-Scene Change-_***

After Bill got Joy to heal my pokemon I went in and replaced Kabutops with Pidgeot. _You know, incase something did happen when we were flying I would have a pokemon to carry Bill and one to carry me. _After that we got on Arcanine and headed back to the 'Billmobile', as Bill called it.

When we got there he explained that the only way in was through the passenger door above the left wing of the ship. _Which explains how he got up there to begin with. _I used Pidgeot while he used Dragonite to take us up to the door. Once inside I recalled them both and Bill took the drivers seat. I, _not really wanting to die without seeing what killed me,_ stayed up front with him in the passenger seat. He turned the key, pushed a series of buttons, and then turned a few knobs. The ship began to shake, rattle, and ding.

"U-u-u-m-m-m- -B-B-B-i-i-i-l-l-l-l-l-l…" I said as the ship rattled.

"Y-y-y-e-e-e-s-s-s-?"

"D-d-d-o-o-o –y-y-y-o-o-o-u-u- -k-k-k-n-n-n-o-o-o-w-w-w -w-w-w-h-h-h-a-a-a-t-t-t- -y-y-y-o-o-o-u-u-r-r-r-e-e-e …"

"N-n-n-o-o-o-p-p-p-e-e-e!" He screamed as he pushed a pedal and pulled up on the throttle. The ship took off, skidding the sandy ground as it traveled, but not picking up from the ground. The rattling did stop, however, but it was only masked by the terror in our voices as we screamed.

We were picking up speed, but were not gaining any lift. Up ahead, only about a mile or so, a cliff. The waterfall that I had visited earlier had dug away at the mountains, creating a cavern that dropped at least a thousand feet, and there we were, heading over the edge.

"Pull up! Pull up!" I screamed.

"I'm trying!" Bill screamed back. "I'm following the online tutorial perfectly!"

"What?" I screamed. "You are flying based on a tutorial you found online?" It was right then that I realized it."I'm so dead."

We hit the edge of the cliff, but to my surprise, we didn't fall. Instead, we did the opposite. The ship rose, rose up high in the sky, above the town, above the mountains, and even up in the clouds.

I unstrapped myself from the seat and looked out the window. _I could see New Bark Town from here, and even the beach I rolled up on. I could see everything._

"Crrrrtt!" The intercom rang as Bill picked up the walky-talky on the pilots chair. "Passengers of the 'Billmobile', this is your captain speaking. We are now flying at 30,000 feet and I would request that you keep both arms, and legs inside the ship at all times. Because being hit by a bug going this fast would cause you to go into a coma." Bill then turned around in his chair, found a Team Rocket Captain's hat and put it on. "For your entertainment we will be playing elevator music that is pre-"

"NO!" I screamed.

"Scratch that passengers."

I rolled my eyes. "You love this don't you?"

"Of course." Bill said with a laugh as he hung the walky-talky back up on its holster. "Haven't you ever wanted to be a captain of a ship?"

"No." I said bluntly. "Now, I have had a long day. I'm going to find the kitchen and cook us something to eat."

"That sounds great! What are you fixing?"

"I don't know. I have to find the kitchen first." As I walked back through the ship I looked out the window. Fearow were flying under us, forming patterns and flying around each other as other Fearow joined the game. "Hmm." I smiled, looking to the sky. "How many friends I have had." I then looked back to the place I just left at the far end of the ship. The door to the cockpit was still open, and Bill was pretending he was in some kind of WWII action film, or something. "For someone that never loses, I sure have lost a lot." I felt a tug on my heart as I thought of Shonna. Then I felt the knife wound in my back pulse. "Ahhh…" I groaned. "Bill… I just wonder how long it will be before you turn on me too."


	28. A Near Travesty

**Chapter 27**

**A Near Travesty**

"Pull up!" I screamed. "Bill! Pull up! Pull up! We're going in too fast!"

The airship was dropping altitude while still going at full speed. Dead ahead of us, no more than about five miles away was in Indigo Plateau, where the world championship _'Pokemon Master'_ cup is going to be held. The ships landing gear was blown off, being released too early, and all the sirens, beeps, and cautionary ventilations were going haywire.

"I can't pull up!" Bill screamed back.

"Why not?" I screamed over the noises of the ship. "Too strong?"

"Not… exactly…." With that Bill pulled up the broken and unattached throttle. "I kinda… broke it!"

"How did you _'kinda'_ break it? What the heck did you do?" I watched as the League came close and closer. "Bill! If we can't stop we need to at least miss the League!"

"How?"

"Fly over the dang thing! I don't care!"

"We can't!" Bill said. "We're going down! I can't stop it!"

I stood there for a moment and watched little specks of people running away as the airship was flying right at the League. "Darn!" I grabbed Pichu from the passenger seat and shoved him in my book bag, grabbing my cane and running as fast as my legs could limp out the door. "Bill! Move your big butt!"

"What are you going to do?" He asked as I reached for two pokeballs, throwing them out the window as Dragonite and Pidgeot flew beside us.

I grabbed Bill's shoulder and shoved him out the open door as Pidgeot caught him. "Get him out of here!" I screamed to her as she took off. I then put one hand on the door as Dragonite let me on her back. We took off in the air. "Get under it!" I screamed. As she flew under the ship I held on tight to her neck. "Now! Turn upside down and use Hyper Beam on it!" I felt Dragonite's body turn over, leaving my legs hanging down off of her. The knife wound in my back tore, causing blood to seep out and stain my shirt.

I felt her muscles tense up as the powerful attack shot out of her mouth. It hit the ship, cutting through the lower decks and causing it to pull up, but only a little. I looked in front of us, the League was getting bigger. "Again!" I called out, and as I did I watched as other trainers joined me. Another Dragonite and its trainer flew up beside me, giving me a wave as they too turned over, releasing a Hyper Beam attack, doing about the same thing that my attack did. I turned to the left, feeling some heat hit me as a trainer and their Charizard came to help. The Charizard also turned on its back, blasting the ship with a massive Fire Blast that gave the ship more lift.

Before long more and more trainers joined in. Charizards, Pidgeots, Fearows, a Togekiss, and even a group of Butterfrees. As all of us worked together the ship was soon soaring over the League, and crashed in the ocean behind the training grounds, far out of harms way.

Dragonite turned me back around as I reached around for my back. "Ah, crap…" I said as she landed on the ground. I was feeling dizzy, light headed. I rolled off of her back, falling on the ground as I pulled my hand away from my back. I looked at my hand. _It looked so… strange. _I heard footsteps all around me as trainers flooded me.

"Are you alright?" A man asked, turning me over.

"My God." Another one said.

"He's hurt!" A girl screamed. "Get a doctor over here!"

I brushed them away as I struggled to stand, forcing myself up on my cane. "I'm fine." I said, noticing that my hand was covered in blood. I watched as blood began to drop from my shirt, staining the black wood on the cane.

"Move out of the way!" I heard Bill say as he flew in on Pidgeot, landing right beside me. "Kyle! Kyle! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah… why? Stop screaming."

"Hang on." He said, but, then everything went fuzzy.

***_-Scene Change-_***

My eyes batted open as I glanced around the white room. The walls were not really walls at all, they were a cloth, and, well, lets just say that I could already figure out where I was.

"Hey, you're up." Bill said, walking over to the bed.

"Bill…" I groaned.

"Hey, chill man." He patted me on the shoulder. "You pulled your stitching out, lost a lot of blood and passed out."

"Bill…" I leaned up, still feeling a little dizzy. "How is it, every time, when it is related with you, I end up… in the freakin hospital?"

"Chill." He looked around then back to me. "You had an 'A Class III Hemorrhage'. You know what that means?"

"I don't know, and I don't care." I groaned.

"It means you lost over 30% of your blood and passed out." Bill then walked over to a stack of clothes in a chair. "Here." He tossed them to me. "You have been out for a few hours. Doctor said all you needed was some sleep and more blood. They pumped you up and told me that you're free to go when you come to." He pulled back the curtain. "Oh yeah, Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"You've got a line out there waiting on you. Seems you're pretty famous around here."

"Oh great." I groaned.

"Hmph." He smiled. "I thought you'd like that."

"Wait! Where is Pichu? And my stuff?"

"Oh yeah." Bill turned around, digging into his pocket as he threw me a key. "I already got us checked in. Hope you don't mind us sharing a room, I couldn't get two on such late notice. And besides, for some odd reason the 'returning champion' gets the fancy housing. I couldn't miss out on that." He then turned away. "I put all your stuff and pokemon in there. Come over and see us when you're ready." With that he pulled the curtain shut and walked out.

I looked down, noticing I was in a hospital gown, again, but still had on my boxers. "Oh well." I groaned, looking at the clothes Bill picked out. "Oh, come on. Bill, I am not going to wear this." I threw down the yellow striped polo and tan shorts on the bed as I walked out of the room in my gown. With my cane in hand, Arcanine's pokeball on, and my muddy as sin tennis shoes, I walked down the hall, making my way to the nurse's station. I walked up, looking at them as they glanced up.

"Oh, well I hope you are feeling better, Mr. Gray." The young lady smiled.

"Yeah, that's great." I brushed her off. "Hey, where is the nearest PC system?"

"Are you feeling okay, Mr. Gray?" She questioned.

"Yes, I'm fine, now where is the PC? I would like to get dressed if you don't mind."

"Your friend Bill said he dropped you off some clothes." She then typed away at the computer in front of her before turning back to face me. "Did you not get them?"

"No, I got them. Now where is the PC?"

"Were they not adequate?"

"Darnit, woman!" I slammed my hand down on the desk. "Where is the freakin' PC?"

"It's right there." She pointed down the hall. I turned my head, looking behind me and seeing a big sign that said _"Personal Computer STATIONS"_ in neon letters.

"Thanks." I turned away, heading down the hall.

"Um sir!" The lady stood up. "Mr. Gray."

"Argg…" I turned around. "What?"

"It is our goal here at the Indigo Plateau to provide our customers with courteous and timely answers and customer support. Would you say that your visit met those standards?"

I stood there, looking at her confused for a moment. _Is she making fun of me?_

"Sir?"

"I'm sorry!" I said, limping over to the PCs. "I'm going through a tunnel, I'm losing ya'! I'll call you back later."

"Smart-aleck." She spat, sitting back down and typing away at her computer. "I don't know why I even try."

"Yeah, nether do I." I groaned, pulling up a seat and plugging in my information. "Now lets see. Item storage. And… yeah, those… and… might as well get that too… alright." After I made my selection I clicked the transfer button. In the slot an item holder appeared, which I took and limped down the hall into the bathroom, where I changed into my new outfit.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Yeah, this feels great!" I said, walking on to the elevator. I was wearing my old beat up blue jeans with frays on the bottoms. The biker boots were so comfy, and so much better than those worn out tennis shoes I had been wearing for months. The white tee was also old, but only worn in, not dirty. And the biker jacket, _ah, that thing never got old._ The glasses Bill gave me just made it look even better, and the black gloves always fit me like a charm. _I would have to admit though, the cane was a little out of place, but hey, I'm starting to get used to it. All I need now is a monocle and about fifty years tagged onto me. I'm going to be sportin' when I get old. _

I pushed the button on the elevator, taking me down to the lobby. _I guess I did expect to see a crowd, from what Bill said, but what waited for me when I opened the door shocked me more than I would have thought._ When the door opened, close to a hundred trainers, cameramen, news stations, people of all ages, and even the faculty of the hospital were all over the lobby. As I stepped out they all jumped up, running up to me and screaming at me.

"What an entrance, Mr. Gray!" A reporter said, shoving a microphone in my face. "Tell me, was that part of your plan this year?"

"Mr. Gray!" Another reporter said, "Is it true you traveled all of Johto in 6 months?"

"I love you Kyle!" This girl trainer came up to me in her little pigtails as she blinded me with the flash of her camera.

"Ahh…" I said, trying to shield my eyes.

"Have my babies Kyle!" This creepy fat guy said as he ran up to me and gave me a hug.

I hit him with my cane. "Get off me." I groaned. "All of you, go away." I said, but it was greatly undertoned by all the noise in the room. "Get lost!" I screamed, but nothing happened again. "I said-"

"Slllaaaaasssshhhh!" Everyone went quiet as a giant Sandslash appeared in the room.

"I'ma thinkin' that Mr. Gray here has somethin' he wants to say'." This fairly large country bumpkin said. He was wearing a brown hide cowboy hat with some wheat hanging out of his mouth with a crooked looking smile. "Well? Heck, go on."

I took a breath as everyone looked at me. "I'm not going to answer any questions now. I am tired, it's late," I looked at the clock to see it was almost 3am. "and I don't care what you have to tell me. If you are a trainer I'm sure you will fight me sometime in the next two weeks. If you are a news crew I'm sure you will interview me sometime as well. If you're some kind of crazy fan… well… I don't know. Just, everyone leave."

"You heard the guy." The hick said as him and his Sandslash motioned every one away. "Get goin'. You can see him' later. Get outta' here!"

One by one the people left, leaving the lobby as I took a deep breath. Once everyone was gone the guy came over to me. He wore a button-up shirt, plaid, tucked into his wranglers with a giant belt bucket on. Something else I noticed, around his neck was a pink bandana with little Miltank on it. _He looked so familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it._

"Name's Travis." The guy said as his spit out the piece of wheat.

I groaned. "Sorry, I'm not really in a situation to make friends right now. I don't have too good of a record of that, if you know what I mean."

"Hey, come on." He smiled. "That's how you thank some one for helpin' ya?"

"Listen, Travis." I stopped as I walked out the door. "I've had a heck of a day. You want to hit me up with something, do it tomorrow."

"So where's your cottage?"

I reached into my pocket, pulling out the key and holding it up to the street light as I began to walk again. "Champion Housing." I said, shoving the key back in my pocket. "Wherever that is."

"Oh, I see now." He laughed. "So, you're _the _Mr. Gray? Tha' Pokemon Master. That's why all those people were in there."

"So. I take it you're not one of those stupid fan people?"

"Nope." He smiled. "Just some country bumpkin trying to make a girl happy." He then put a hand on my shoulder as he pointed up to the housing. "Your place is right-ched there. The big one upfront."

"Wow." _The thing was huge! A lot bigger than the one me and Shonna stayed in last time. _

"Yep. I've been here for about three weeks already. Got to know this place pretty well." He then walked off. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around. You take care, kay?"

"Yeah. You too."

I walked up to the house. It had a lot more to offer than the regular four room little town houses that the other trainers stayed in. This place even had it's own lawn! Given that it was only about twenty feet of a lawn, but it was a lawn nonetheless. The porch was wooden, with a little swing outside, overlooking the trainer's battle field. The door to the place was white, and the walls on the outside had windows that looked out over the entire place.

I fumbled with the key, putting it into the lock and walking in. Inside it was evident it was more than four rooms. The first thing I saw was a large staircase, that went up to the second floor. The living room was huge as well, probably the size of any regular one of the town houses. There were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and marble titles in the kitchen, the full size kitchen.

"Wow." I smiled. "I like how they treat the Champions here."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Bill said from behind me. I turned around, looking at him as he drank milk out of a glass jar, something I have only seen in the movies. On top of that he was wearing a fleece bathrobe with the words, _'Pokemon Master'_ embroidered on it. "They got a Jacuzzi!"

"That's great." I said, walking by him as I went to go upstairs.

"Hey, don't worry!" He shouted. "There's one in your room too!"

"Really?" I asked, turning around and watching him come up the stairs.

"Yeah, come on." He walked on by me. "I'll show you your room."

I followed him as he led me upstairs. To the left I saw two rooms, and to the right two more. In each one, _I'm guessing, because I only went into mine,_ there was a master's bed, plasma screen TV and a hallway that lead into a master's bathroom with a Jacuzzi that doubled as a shower, if needed.

"Wow." I said, flopping down on the bed.

"Piiiii!" I heard Pichu yawn. I turned over, looking at the pillows on the bed as I saw Pichu raise up. He had one of those eye covers on his eyes, except the thing was too big, so only one half of it covered his whole face.

"Bwahaha!" I laughed at him.

"Pi?" Pichu lifted it off of his eyes as he put on a smile. He threw the eye cover off of his head and ran over to me. "Pi! Pichu!" He leapt into my arms, giving me a hug as he laid there on my chest.

"Man…" I looked up to the ceiling, watching as the lights glimmered off the brass of the chandelier. "Two days ago, I never thought I would be here." I then frowned. "Nor, one year ago. At least, not like this." I then stood up, holding Pichu in my arm as I limped over to the lights, turning them off, and heading to bed.

***_-Scene Change-_***

_Ever since that incident with Ricky, my sleeping pills were destroyed when I fell into the water. Though, I cant really explain it, but, I think I may be coping with the fact that Shonna is gone, and that she is never coming back. I have slept without dreams, those horrible dreams of her leaving me at the docks, finding some other guy that treats her like crap, and let's not forget the ones where she is cursing my name. All of those are now memories, and it seems as if I will never have to revisit them again. _

I woke up to the sound of trainers calling out orders. _I guess with the competition only being seven days away they want to get as much practice in as possible. _The sun was already up, and the clock on the nightstand read 10:27am. I rolled over, pulling the red bed comforter off of me, tossing it on Pichu as he squirmed in bed, dreaming about something.

"Yaaa!" I yawned, raising up as Pichu did the same, almost mimicking the way I stretched.

"Piiii!" He stretched, then ran over to me, hopping on my shoulder.

"Hey." I smiled, scratching behind his ear. "Have a good sleep, bud?"

"Pi! Pi-chu!" He squeaked, burrowing his head into my hair.

"Eah…" I winced. _Gosh, something smells bad._ I tilted my head around, sniffing Pichu. "Phew!" I pulled him back, holding him in my hands far away. "Wow, kid. You smell bad. Like Kabutops kinda bad." I then chuckled. "Lets go hop in the shower, okay?"

"Pi…" Pichu held his head down in a glum way.

"Oh come on." I laughed as we made our way down the hall to the bathroom. "You need it!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Piiiiii-cha!" Pichu shook off in the towel that I held him in.

"Hey." I laughed. "Chill. Let me get you dried off." I rustled the towel over him, scrubbing and drying and then pulled it away fast.

"Pi…." Pichu groaned as he looked in the mirror. The little yellow mouse looked more like a puffed up Mareep.

"Oh, Pichu!" I laughed. "It doesn't look that bad! You look just like mom when she gets a new perm!"

"Pi! Pi! Pi!" He shook his head violently as he began to lick his paw and pat his hair down like a cat.

"Well, while you do that I'm going to get dressed." I smiled, walking back into the bedroom with a towel draped around me. I opened up my bag, pulling out my belt, change of clothes, and all six of my pokeballs.

I kept the same white shirt as before, but it was a little too hot for the leather jacket, so I swapped that out for my green one I wore in Kanto. The boots were always comfy, and so were those worn in jeans. The cane, well, I left that behind. _I don't think I need anymore, honestly. I have been limping a lot, but, I think I'll be fine without it. _I also put the gloves back up because, once again, it was rather warm over here.

When both me and Pichu were done we walked out of the door, him on my shoulder, as always.

"Hey." Bill said. He was waiting outside my door, foot propped up on the wall with this hands behind his head.

"How long have you been out here?" I asked as Pichu ran up on my head.

"Oh, just a few minutes." He kicked off the wall as we walked down the hall. "Heard your shower going so I figured it wouldn't take you too long to get ready." He then looked at me as we walked down the stairs, me holding onto the railing. "So what happened to the cane? Not need it any more?"

"Nah. I feel a lot better." I smiled. "Don't think I really needed it anyway. Oh yeah, that reminds me, when did the doctors say the stitches needed to come out?"

"Oh, they said that those are the kind that dissolve after you are healed. They said about five days and you'll be as good as new."

"That's great." I followed Bill as we went into the kitchen.

"So." He said, sitting at the table. "Are we going to eat one of Kyle Gray's world famous breakfasts?"

"Nope." I smiled, reaching into the cabinet pulling out two bowls. "Actually, it's been kinda a tradition for me. First morning here I always enjoy some of the complementary cereal they offer." Bill gave me a blank face as I put the bowl in front of him on the table.

"You're kidding? Cereal?"

I walked back over to the fridge, pulling out a fresh gallon of milk and then over to the cabinet again, pulling out the frosted flakes. "Hey, you try eating nothing but camp fire cooked meals for six months, then you will appreciate the little things."

"Yeah, well, I live at home and eat cereal every day." As I was pouring my bowl he stood up, grabbing his tie as he draped it over his shoulder. "Sorry, Kyle, but I'm going out to the food court. I'll catch up to you later, okay?"

"Sure." I waved to him, pouring the milk. "I'll see you later. Have fun."

"Later! Oh yeah, I forgot. I already got you registered for the league, they said they will give you your battle times via PC transition in your box. " I watched him leave the kitchen then head for the door. I continued eating as I heard the door open, but then he started talked to someone. "What?"

"Mr. Gray? Is he available?" I heard a girl's voice.

"Yes, but he is eating." Bill spoke. "I'm sorry but you will have to wait until he is done. He will be out shortly." Then the door shut, and it was silent.

"So…" I chomped down another bite of cereal as Pichu poured out the box on the table, picking up little pieces of flakes and munching away at them. "Let the interviews begin." Raising up from my unfinished bowl I walked over to the door. I put my hand on the knob, taking a deep breath as I opened the door. Outside, on the porch, I saw a woman, about three or so years older than me, in a blazer type business suit, skirt combo. She had her back to me, but I could tell she was practicing some lines she was going to say by the way her short brown hair and head were bobbing around. In front of her, standing with a camera facing me, was a guy in a plain white T-shirt, some baggy cargo shorts, and this red ball cap which was turned around backwards on his head. I smiled as he pointed to me, making the woman stop talking to herself and turn to face me.

"How long have you two been standing out here?" I asked.

"Excuse us, Mr. Gray." The woman spoke somewhat nervously. "I am Jane with the Jubilife News crew, and we were wondering if we could get an interview with the Kanto Champion, Mr. Kyle Gray."

"Hmph." I smiled. "Well, you still haven't answered my question."

"We have been out here five hours, sir." The cameraman spoke up, lowering the camera.

"Charlie!" Jane spat. "Pick up that camera! We need this recorded."

"Haha." I chuckled as I opened the door. "Well, come on in. You can interview me while I eat my breakfast."

"But…" Jane stopped at the door. "Mr. Gray…"

"Please, call me Kyle." I smiled.

"Alright, Kyle. But we are not allowed in there." She then pointed her finger into the building. "We were told that we were only allowed on the public area."

"Ever heard of 'Freedom of the Press'?" I asked, motioning them to follow me into the kitchen. "I of all people should know that news crews don't stop for anything." I sat down, watching then walk into the house and pan the camera around in all directions, then back to Jane.

"This is Jane with Jubilife News, and I am reporting to you from inside the Pokemon Champion Housing here at the Indigo Plateau in Kanto. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that very few individuals ever get to see. We at the Jubilife News have been given special permission by Kyle Gray himself, the Pokemon Master, so forth proclaimed at the Kanto League Championships last year, to interview him in this rare location. Now, if you will follow me into the kitchen area, we will begin the interview." She walked towards me, motioning for Charlie to follow. When they both got in there, however, Pichu began to squirm inside of the box. "Umm… what's that?" She said, pointing at the cereal box that was moving on the table.

"Oh, sorry." I smiled, sticking my hand in the box and pulling out Pichu. I saw Charlie jump a little as I brushed off the small frosted flakes from his yellow fur, putting him on my head as I kept talking. "This is Pichu. I take it he likes this cereal too."

"So, you eat, 'Froslass Frosted Flakes', Mr. Gray?" Jane asked, picking up the box and then putting it back down on the table. "Would you say it is your breakfast of choice?"

"I really don't know." I slurped at the bowl of milk. "You see, being on the road most of the time getting gym badges, you cant bring cereal along with you. What I normally eat is camp fire cooked meals that I share with my pokemon."

"Speaking of your pokemon, are you partial to any specific type?"

"Um.. what do you mean?" I asked, eating the last of the cereal before pushing the bowl to the side.

"Well, do you prefer water types, fire types, grass types?"

"I really don't fill comfortable saying that at this time." I smiled. "With it being so close to the competition someone might be able to use that against me."

"Well how about another question? How many pokemon do you currently own right now?"

"I currently have 14… I mean, 13." I then frowned a little as I remembered Magcargo, and Ricky.

"13. Well, it seems as if you have over doubled what you had from last year's competition. Would you say that your new pokemon have made your party stronger?"

"Oh course." I smiled. "But, I don't have to tell you that. You can see for yourself if you stick around for another two weeks."

"So, you feel confident about your abilities during this year's league championship?"

"I don't know. Honestly you can't ever know how things are going to turn out. That is one of the lessons I have learned in my travels this year."

"Speaking of your travels." Jane shoved the microphone in my face. "I am sure that all of your fans would love to know something. Is it true, Mr. Gray, that you made it through all of Johto, collecting all the badges, in six months?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "It's true."

"Mr. Gray, could you explain to us the difficulties you encountered along the way?"

_Difficulties?_ I thought. _Lets see, I made a friend who stole all of my pokemon, was a serial killer, and I almost died. Yeah, I really want to tell that story._

"Mr. Gray?"

"I'm sorry." I said, standing up. "I am done with this interview."

"But, Mr. Gray?"

"Please." I walked in the living room, holding the door opened as I motioned them out.

"Okay, cut it Charlie." Jane motioned the 'cut throat' signal as she walked over to me. "Thank you, Kyle." She nodded and then they both walked out.

"Ahh.." I sighed as I shut the door.

"Pi?" Pichu looked down at me from my head, poking his little face in front of mine.

"Oh nothing." I smiled, walking into the kitchen and picking up my bowl from the table. I went over to the sink, turning on the water and began to wash the bowl out. _There was a dishwasher beside the sink, but I never knew how to work those stupid things. Besides, it's much easier and faster just to do it by hand. _

When I was done with the bowl I put it back up, as well as the spoon, grabbed my book bag from the table and walked to the door. Pichu, for whatever reason, jumped off my shoulder and ran upstairs. I watched as the little mouse stopped half way up. "I'm going out, little bud. Are you going to stay here?"

"Pi!" He nodded, running up more stairs.

"Alright, I'll be back in a few." I waved my hand as I turned the knob. When I opened the door Jane and Charlie were gone, but they were replaced by something, or rather someone else that was just as unexpected.

"So, ya feel like makin' friends with me today?" Travis said through a lip of chewing tobacco.

"I'll have to think about it." I walked out, letting the door shut behind me as I walked off the porch.

"I bet that it's nice in that house." Travis said, following behind me. "I got to share my place with four people, and it's bout the same size as your yard."

"Hey I went through the same thing last year." I smiled. "If you would of got here earlier then you could have got a house to yourself."

"I've been here for almost a month! How much earlier you get here before?"

"Me and…" I paused. "Me and the person I was traveling with got here about two or three months before the competition."

"Well, I bet that's only cause Kanto is easier than Johto." Travis said, kicking up some dirt as I followed the path behind the Champion Housing, which led to the training ground. "You know, everyone says that."

"Well, it took me three more months to travel Kanto then it did Johto, so you do the math."

"So why are you here?" Travis asked, changing the subject.

"That's one of life's great mysteries. Why am I here?"

"What?" He looked at me funny. "I mean why'd you come here? Why compete this year?"

"Oh…" I walked beside one of the fields, taking a seat on the bench and watching a Crobat and Nidoking go at it. "I don't know. I guess, a girl."

"Yeah, me too." He smiled. "She told me if I win, she'll go steady with me."

"Hmph." I smiled. "Mine left me alone on the docks." _What? Why did I just say that? I haven't told that to anyone, why tell it to him? I don't even know this guy!_

"Oh. So that's the story." He chuckled as he turned to look at me, then he laughed more.

"What the heck is your problem?" I narrowed my eyebrows.

"Oh nothing." He laughed. "How bout this," he stood up as he brushed off his wranglers. "I'll tell you all about it later. As for now, we'll keep in touch." With that he smiled a crooked smile and walked away with a wave. "Catch ya' later, slick."

I grit my teeth as he walked out of sight. "What does he know? As if he could even comprehend what all I have been through." I looked down to my belt, pulling off a pokeball as I let it sit in my hand. "Speaking of which, I guess I should try to work things out with you." I gripped onto the ball as I tossed it out in front of me. A bright red light appeared and out came Primeape.

"Prime…" Primeape glared, turning around to face me with red eyes that almost looked like they were glowing.

"Listen, bud," I started off, putting a hand up to try to calm him. "I know that a lot has happened, and I just want to say that I'm-"

"PRIMEAPE!" Primeape screamed so loud that trainers turned to look. He began to run at me, leaping into the air and focusing his fist into a Mega Punch.

"Whoa!" I jumped, rolling on the ground as the punch came down and landed on the bench I was just sitting at. The punch went through the wood, causing splinters to fly out in all directions. I reached for the pokeball around my neck as Primeape began to charge again. He ran at me, leaping into the air again with another Mega Punch, but as he was coming down, Arcanine appeared between us.

Primeape fell into Arcanine, and then fell to the ground. He looked up at Arcanine, growling. "Prrrriimmmeee…"

"Arrr…" Arcanine snarled, causing embers to sizzle on the ground. With that, Primeape turned his head, and walked over to his Pokeball. He put his fist to it, and he was sucked back inside.

I looked around, and saw all the trainers looking at me as I struggled to stand.

"Here." I looked up to this boy who was offering his hand to me. "Let me help you."

"Thanks." I smiled, taking his hand as he pulled me up.

"Man, I thought you were toast."

"Nah." I said, placing my hand on Arcanine's mane. "Not with my trusty Arcanine."

"So, what happened?" The boy walked over to Primeape's pokeball and picked it up. "I have never seen a pokemon do that to a trainer before." He then walked over to me, placing it in my hand. "How long have you had it?"

"About year now, I guess." I put the ball back on my belt as I patted on Arcanine, who lowered down for me. "Well, thanks." I smiled. "But I need to be heading to the pokecenter."

"Don't mention it." He smiled. "Anything to help a Pokemon Master."

I nodded, and then nudged Arcanine to turn away. When my back was to the boy I rolled my eyes. _Man, is everyone going to refer to me as that? You know, I do have a name. I guess I should expect it though. I am the returning champion, I suppose I am somewhat of a role model for those kids as well. _

The ride to the pokecenter was short, with the location being only about an eighth of a mile away. But during this trip I couldn't help but thing about Primeape. _He obviously isn't going to listen to me, I mean, he wouldn't even let me get a word in without attacking me. But that isn't what's bothering me. What is bothering me is what Articuno said yesterday, before the gym match…_

"_-Articuno looked at me blankly before nodding. "Kyle, I am so very proud of you right now."_

"_What?" I asked. "Why?"_

"_Because you have finally realized you have met your match with a pokemon."-"_

_ I have met my match?_ _Articuno wouldn't say that unless she foresaw that I would be having problems with Primeape. She also wouldn't say she was proud of me unless I caught on to something faster than I was supposed to. That would mean that she saw Primeape wouldn't listen to me, and never will. She saw that he… would never trust me again._

When Arcanine arrived at the pokecenter I hopped off of his back and recalled him. Walking in I noticed the place was packed. Trainers all over the place, running and scrambling to the PC's and the front desk.

"When do you fight?" A little boy asked another, as they both looked on one of the PC's together.

"It's not up yet!" The other boy screamed. "They said it would be posted up in a week! Then we will still have another week for training!"

"Oh yeah…" The second boy then walked away, head hung low as he passed through the sliding doors going out into the street.

I waited for a computer to open and then took a seat beside it. I moved the mouse, and realized that the last person didn't log out of their account. "Hmm…" I smirked, looking at their Pidgeotto, Golbat, and Rattata that was pulled up on the screen. "Kid, you'll learn one day. And I hope not the same way I did." I logged out of his account and then opened mine up. _Yep, all my pokemon seem to be there._ I then brought up the videophone program. Once the line was established I dialed in Professor Oak's number. It rang only once before he picked up.

"Hello? Oh, nice to see you again Kyle." He smiled. "I see that you made it to the Indigo Plateau, and with a week to spare. I say, nicely done. Completing the entire Johto league in six months, and making to the championship for a second time. At first I never thought you could accomplish such a task, but well done."

"Thank you." I sorta chuckled_._ "Um, Professor Oak, I have a few questions."

"Yes? Go ahead Kyle."

"First off, did my pokemon make it their safe?"

"Of course they did." He laughed. "I must say, I was rather surprised to see them all at once, especially that Kabutops." He then darted his eyes around the monitor. "And the other one, we won't mention."

"Alright, well my next question is… how would I go about getting rid of a pokemon?"

"You can release it, if you choose to."

"No, I cant do that. You see, Primeape is a great pokemon, but he is a bit mischievous. If I release him I'm afraid he will get into trouble." I sighed as I looked at the screen. "You see, he needs a better trainer than me."

"Oh… so you are thinking a gym leader in need of a pokemon?"

"I haven't really thought about it. He is really strong through, and would do good as a gym's pokemon. Maybe not the leader's though."

"Kyle, will you be at that computer for a while? Primeape is a fighting type, if you can stay there for a while then I would like to call around and see if I can find a good placement for you. I might know of someone that would be perfect."

"Really?" I smiled. "Thanks. How long will it take?"

"I'm not for sure. If I cant get a hold of them within the next few minutes I'll call you back and work something out."

"Alright. Thanks Professor."

"Anytime, Kyle. Good luck in the league." With that he cut the phone call.

I leaned back in the chair, raising the front two legs off the ground, looking to the ceiling. _So, what to do till he calls me back._ "I got it!" I went back to the PC as the chair fell to the ground. The videophone was already open, so I dialed the operator.

"Operator." A woman said as she began to fiddle around with stuff off the screen.

"Yes, the bike shop in Cerulean City, please."

"Please state the official name of the business you are trying to reach, sir."

"I don't know the official name." I shrugged. "It should be the only bike shop there, at least it was a year ago."

"Let me see…" There was a pause as she looked off screen. "All I'm finding is a 'Dave's Bike and Auto Shop". Is that what you are looking for, sir?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"Alright, patching you through."

The screen then went to static, and began to ring. It rang for a while, probably seven or eight times before Dave picked up. "Hello, and thank you for calling Dave's shop. This is Dave, how may I help you?" The large fat man said. I saw his eyes get wide as he looked at the screen. "Well hey, looky there! How are you, kid? It's been like two months, I thought you just wanted me to keep the bike."

"Phft. No!" I laughed. "I'm sorry, I just got caught up in stuff. They don't really have video phones in the woods or up in mountains, ya know?"

"Haha! I guess that's true!" Dave then put up his pointer finger. "Hang on one second, I'll be right back." With that he ran off screen. A few seconds later he came back, this time holding up a capsule that looked different than the one I had. "Hope you don't mind, but I gave your capsule a different color. The pink and yellow combo didn't look to good, so I changed it to red and black, you know, to match the bike."

"That's fine. I hope the bike wasn't too much trouble."

"Speaking of which, what all did you do to that thing? Transition was out of whack, blown head gasket, wheel axel was busted, frame was mess up all to heck, and on top of that it looked like you ran it through a barb-wire fence."

"Well, ya know, when you are a trainer you go lots of places."

"Yeah I guess so. But, anyway, I am a man of my word. Free of charge." He put the capsule on the deposit unit and pushed the button. In milliseconds the unit on my end flashed, and there sat in front of me my brand new red and black capsule bike. "Also, I gave your bike a new paint job. I hope you like black pin stripes around the windshield." I watched the screen begin to blink as a Professor Oak icon came up.

_"Call waiting."_ It said.

"Oh that's great." I smiled. "Thanks, but I got another call. I'll swing by there sometime later to catch up with you."

"Alright, see ya!" I cut the call, answering Professor Oak's.

"Hello? Professor Oak?" I asked.

"Oh yes, Kyle!" He smiled. "I am glad to see you are still there. You will be happy to know that I have found a new placement for your Primeape. It turns out that a gym leader has been looking for a new pokemon for quite a while, but fighting types are very rare on his island."

"Fighting types? Island?" I put a finger to my chin. "Chuck?"

"Not exactly. Good guess though." He laughed. "The leader is Brawly. He runs the Dewford Town gym in Hoenn. But, anyway, I have already arranged it with him and all you need to do is transfer your Primeape to me and I will take care of the rest."

"Would you like me to now?" I asked, holding up his pokeball.

"Of course."

I opened the container for the deposit unit, taking out my capsule bike and putting in Primeape's pokeball. I stuffed the bike in my pocket as I pushed the send button.

"Got it!" Oak said, taking the ball and holding it up in the air. "So, would you like to take one of your pokemon back, Kyle? The only thing I ask is not to take Kabutops or the 'other one'. I am currently still doing tests on them, and Kabutops seems to highly enjoy my Omanyte. Although, I do wonder, what he eats. Omanyte seems to enjoy little fish, like minnows, but Kabutops isn't having any of it."

"He eats pond scum." I said. "He isn't to keen on mud though, he mostly likes the green moss that grows on the bottom of ponds and lake beds."

"Oh, I see. Fascinating. This requires much more research."

"So, can you send me over Umbreon?" I asked. "I think he would be a good addition to my current team."

"Sure, right away." With that he went off the screen and came back around a minute later holding a pokeball. "This is Umbreon's ball. I'll send it over right now."

I watched as the unit on my side flashed, and then a pokeball appeared. "Thanks." I said with a smile. "Take good care of my pals, okay Professor?"

"Will do! And I will get Primeape to his new home right away."

"Thanks." With that I smiled, cutting the call and logging out of my account. I grabbed my stuff up from the chair and let the next person in line take my seat. The table was vacant, so I laid my book bag on it, digging through it and pulling out the item holder that had my bike gear in it. I pushed the button, rolling it on the table as it opened up, bringing out my jacket, gloves, helmet and shades. I picked up the helmet, sucking the rest of the items back in the holder and putting it back in my book bag. I threw the bag over my shoulder, walking out of the sliding door and into the sunlight.

It was getting later, about 12 or so, at least that was what it looked like. I reached in my pocket, pulling out the red and black capsule which held my motorcycle. I pushed the button and threw it down on the street. In a big puff of smoke, unfolded my motorcycle. It was just a big as I remembered it, and the paint was even brighter than before. All the dents and everything was gone, leaving only a beautiful red finish, with some new black pin striping design on the hood which crossed and circled around under the curved windshield. I smiled, slipping on the helmet as I raised the hood to the bike, climbing in and sitting down. I closed the lid, which covered over my legs.

"Wow!" I heard a kid say as he walked out of the pokecenter. "Awesome motorcycle!"

"Thanks." I smiled, turning the key. The engine revved as the navigation system and radio kicked on. My CD was still in it, and the song _"Free Will"_ began to play from the speakers under the seat. I felt my heart race as I twisted the accelerator on the handle, watching as the green lights by my feet, and under the two wheels, began to light up. _Wow, this feels so cool. It's amazing what two months on your feet can do to your perception of transportation. _I glanced up, waving to the group of kids, both boys and girls, with some teens in there. I then slipped on my helmet, revving the bike as I sped off, down the road to the stores and food court.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Before I caught up with Bill I decided to do some shopping at the gift shop. _I mean, I did just get a new bike, pretty much, so why not deck it out? _I walked into the shop, glancing around at all the bumper stickers, and picked out a few that I liked. One had an Arcanine roaring, so yeah I had to get that one. _I never was much for the bumper stickers that said things on them, like 'If you can read this SLOW DOWN' or 'Say NO to SLOW'. I don't know, they never really did much for me. But I was able to find some I liked. One that said "IMMIGRANT" on it and a few from some of my favorite TV shows, games, and even a few badges from both the Kanto, and Johto leagues. They even had a few badges from the Kanto Navy, Army, and a few rank badges as well. I especially like the one of my favorite game growing up with a blue hedgehog._ After purchasing the twenty or so bumper stickers I went out of the store and pulled out the bike.

"Hmm…" I looked the bike over. "The only real place I can find on here to put the stickers would be on the front hood." _This part raised up for the driver to get in the bike, then closed up around them. This was the best place, that I could see anyway, because on both sides it was a long stretch of metal that didn't have any bolts, nuts, or exposed gadgets on it._ I pilled off the first sticker, slapping it on there. The black bumper sticker took up a large portion of the right side, with the white words 'IMMIGRANT' on it. Next was the Arcanine, which went on the wheel cover on the right side. Then came the army, navy, and air force badges and patches, which I arranged under the windshield. The Kanto and Johto badges went under them, and last was the TV shows and game stickers. They were just put on there in a random assortment on the front. "Lets see…" I said, holding up the last one. It was a sticker of a circular radiation sign, and the only place left to put it was on the left side right beside the tire. I step back, looking at the stickers as I smile went on my face. "Tell you what, Kyle. You just turned a beautiful looking bike into a rolling advertisement." I laughed as I raised the hood and hopped in. I lowered it down and then revved the engine, taking off to the food court.

The court wasn't that far away, and it didn't take me long to find Bill walking around. He was shocked to see me in my bike, but knew right away it was me.

"Hey! Kyle!" He waved, flagging me down. I pulled over to him, lifting up the glass cover of my helmet so he could see me. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it was a prototype. I don't think I have ever seen anything like this before. Is that a built in navigation system with a 5 cd disk changer?"

"Um…" I looked down to the screen between my knees. "I don't know. I have only put one CD in it at a time."

"Hey, you think you would let me drive it?" Bill smiled, putting on a big grin.

"Sorry Bill." I laughed. "I customized this bike myself. It's too crazy, you couldn't handle it."

"Oh come on, I have drove an airship before." I looked at him blankly as he spoke again. "Yeah, okay, bad example."

"Well, how about this." I reached up, pulling off my helmet off as I took off my necklace as well. "Would you like to ride Arcanine back? He can out run this bike if you want him to."

"How fast does that thing go?" He asked, looking at the digital speedometer. "Wow, does it really red line at 25 RPM's?"

"Yeah, if you get it down below 5 RPM's it dies on you. So you have to really get it up to speed to shift gears. But, to answer your question, the speedometer won't go any higher than 199 miles per hour."

"You have got that thing up to 200?" He jumped. "And you're telling me Arcanine can go faster than that?"

"Well, we are working on it. The last time he did, however, he really hurt himself bad, but it is possible." I handed him his pokeball as he took it in his hand. "Let's have a race if you want." I smiled.

"I don't know." He smiled back. "Arcanine might not like it." He pushed the button, releasing Arcanine as he stood in front of us. People at the food court moved out of the way, making room for the giant dog as he walked over to us. He looked at me, then to Bill, giving him a big lick on the face.

"What was you saying about not liking it?" I laughed. "Hey boy."

"Arf!" Arcanine looked at me and began wagging his tail.

"Bill wants to have a little race. You and him against me and the bike. What do you say?"

"Hey now, I didn't agree to thi- Whoa!" Arcanine didn't let him finish. He bent down, picking Bill up with his nose and tossed him on his back.

"Woof! Woof!" He lowered down in a pouncing position as he began to wag his tail.

"Well, looks like you don't have a choice Bill." I laughed, revving the engine. "Oh yeah, a word of advice."

"Yeah?" Bill said with more than a hint of fear in his voice.

"You might want to hold on tight." I grinned. "Come on, boy!" I took off, doing a half doughnut as I took off down the street, Arcanine flowing right behind.

Arcanine kept right on my tail up until I hit 60, then, in a show of speed, he leaped into the air, soaring right over me and landing in front of the bike. I heard Bill screaming as he touched down. He then took off, like a bullet, running down the street and jumping over trainers as the crossed. I sped up to 80, trying to catch them, but they only pulled away that much faster. _I can't accelerate any more, not with all these curves up here._ So I had to slow down, taking a few curves and then remembering something I saw this morning.

I grinned as I took a detour. _We were racing to the Champion Housing. I didn't have to tell Arcanine that, he already knew. But there was something I saw earlier, something that would be of use to me now. _Behind the house was a training ground, and the training ground consisted of about a quarter mile of nothing but open field. Besides that there were a few roads that led there, and a few houses with miniature yards separating them. _That's my ticket._ I took the next turn, cutting up behind some houses and speeding between them in the little ten-foot gap. I accelerated, getting up to about 90 or so, before I hit the open fields. I revved up more, getting the bike up to about 120. The trainers saw me coming and jumped out of the way, recalling their pokemon as I sped by them. Soon I was right behind the house. I locked up, sliding the bike around on his side and laying it down, almost flat on the ground. It swerved around, curving in the slide as it slid around the house, coming to a stop in the yard as it faced the porch, the porch with Arcanine on it and Bill white as a sheet.

"Arf!" Arcanine barked, running up to me as Bill held on tight.

"Was that a good run, boy?" I asked, raising the hood of the bike as I climbed out. I looked up to Bill, who was holding on Arcanine's mane with a death grip. "Bill, did you have a nice run too?"  
'T-t-that wa-asn't a –r-run…" He trembled. "That was just… scary."

"I told you Arcanine is fast!" I laughed, but was soon stopped when I heard the sound of police sirens coming up road. It as an Officer Jenny, the one stationed here, on her police motorcycle with the lights on. She leaned the bike over, taking the turn as she rolled up the driveway and into the yard of our house.

"Stop right there!" She screamed as she got off her bike.

"Is there a problem officer?" I asked, almost with a laugh. _Come on, what could I have done? I mean, I was just going 120 in a 35._

"Do you have any idea what you just did? Or how many laws you have broken?" She screamed pointing her finger at me. "And I could care less about you being the pokemon master! No one gets away with a crime when I'm on duty!"

"Well, you see Ms. Jenny, I was doing some training with my pokemon." I placed my hand on Arcanine's back as I talked. "We were working on his Extreme Speed attack, and we needed some room to work on it."

"That's what the training fields are for!" She screamed.

"Oh…" I put my hand to my mouth. "I was unaware of that. I thought that best place to test out an attack like that would be on the road, a vacant road. You see, I was afraid that the training field would be too crowded, and I was also afraid of someone getting hurt. When you are in a pokemon battle the battling fields only have two pokemon on them, so it is pretty open and no one gets hurt." I walked over to her. "I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Ms. Jenny, but I didn't know I was breaking any law." _Yeah right._ "But, I do take full responsibility for what I have done. I would gladly pay for any damages I have caused today."

I saw her groan as she looked at me. "There have been no damages that you have caused today, so I guess I'll let you go with a warning. You seem to just be stupid." She went back to her bike, then turned and pointed a finger at me. "From now on use the training ground, you stupid kid! And if I catch you speeding again you'll go straight to jail!"

"Yes ma'am." I nodded as she drove away. I smiled, turning back to Bill. "You see, Bill, you just got to know how to talk to them." I stopped talking when I noticed Bill was still on Arcanine's back, white as a sheet. I put a palm to my forehead. "Oh Bill…"

***_-Scene Change-_***

After I got Bill out of the trance and recalled Arcanine we walked back inside. The first thing I noticed was a little squeaking sound coming from the kitchen. _It was strange. It sounded familiar, but like something I have never heard before._

"Huuuuuuuooooo…" It squeaked in a groaning kind of way. I walked in the kitchen, finding two cereal boxes of 'Lucky Chimechos' opened with the cereal on the table, but all the marshmallows gone. Beside them, laying belly up, was Pichu, who was rubbing his belly and groaning. "Chuuooooooo…"

"Pichu!" I scolded. "Did you eat all of those marshmallows?"

"Chaaa…"

"Oh man." Bill slapped his forehead. "Looks like this little guy is coming off of a sugar high."

"Yeah, I know. He's done that before. But last time he ate about 5 gallons of ice cream. At least this time it was only two boxes."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The rest of the first day went pretty good. A few trainers challenged me, which was not much of a challenge seeing as how I whooped all six of theirs with only one pokemon each time. _Last year it didn't seem this easy, though. Perhaps I just keep getting better, or maybe the gyms have been slacking as of late._ I also had a few TV crews come up to me, but none of them did a full bio like Jane and Charlie. After a few of those I cooked dinner for Bill and I as we watched a movie that we rented from the movie gallery at the shop. The movie was about some secret organization that fought aliens, or something like that. _I must say, it was pretty funny, but Bill seemed to hate it._

"Where's all the technology?" He would say. "That's not even logical! How could they possibly have a week in one hour? That would completely be illogical and unsustainable. That would mean their home planet would have a year that lasted 52 hours? That would mean their planet orbits their star at such a close range that it would be unfeasible."

Never the less, it was a good movie. After that, me and Pichu washed up, and headed to bed. _You know, it does make me wonder. Now that I'm here, and it took me six months of constant running to do it, I now have two weeks to do nothing. What am I going to do?_ I rolled over, closing my eyes. _Guess I'll just have to work on it."_


	29. Preliminary Problems

**Chapter 28**

**Preliminary Problems **

The next few weeks went pretty good. Bill enjoyed my home cooking, and I was blessed with the luxury of having of all the cooking ingredients that I could want delivered to my door as part of room service. I was able to work on Pichu's ability to control what he ate during those eight days, and it seemed to work. That is, till I left the house and he ransacked through all the drawers trying to find the sweets.

Travis also made some appearances through out those eight days. Apparently he has this girl that he really likes and has been trying to get in bed with her. B_oy, where have I heard that before?_ _I'm telling you, that guy is a real scum. Why is it that I always seem to attract those kind of people as of late? Anyway, he doesn't seem to be after money, or my pokemon in any way. It think he just likes hanging around me for the fun of it. He hasn't asked me to battle him yet either. He told me that this book he read said surprise is one of the best strategies in winning a pokemon match. He also said that anger and knowledge are the other two most important things in winning. Perhaps he is hanging around me to get to know me better, thinking that would give him an edge in fighting me in the upcoming battles._

"So." Bill said, walking up behind me as I cooked breakfast in my green apron. The bacon was sizzling on the pan as I turned it over, checking the oven and watching the biscuits turn a golden brown. "What are you fixing today? As if I couldn't smell it?" He laughed.

"Bacon for you." I said, pulling the biscuits from the oven, while I stirred the white gravy. "And biscuits and gravy for everyone." I laid the biscuits on the table as Bill took one. "Watch out!" I said as he took a bite. He then dropped the biscuit, as he held out is tongue, fanning his mouth. "They're hot."

"So what did you mean by everyone? There's just you and me."

"Piii!" Pichu yawned, climbing down the stairs as if on cue.

"To answer your question," I laughed as I yelled. "We're in here!" Calling Pichu in as he ran for us. He jumped up on Bill's lap, then leaped onto the table as he picked up the biggest biscuit there, which was almost as big as he was.

"Hold on there," Bill said, taking it out of his little paws. "They are hot. Trust me."

"Piii…" Pichu huffed, watching him place the biscuit back in the pan with the others.

"Oh hang on you two." I laughed, taking the gravy off the stove and putting on the table as well. "Just let me get the bacon over here and it'll be ready."

"Oh boy!" Bill said, smacking his hands together as he licked his lips. Pichu did the same, trying to mimic him. "I have ate like a king these past few days. I'm only sad that it's going to end in a week."

"Actually." I corrected him, bringing over the bacon in a plate. "Today is going to be the last day. From now on I'm ordering room service."

"But, your cooking is so much better!" Bill said, stuffing his face as he fanned his mouth at the same time. "I'm burning my mouth but I don't care. It's so good!"

"Pi! Pi!" Pichu said, fanning his mouth as well, and then taking another bite.

"Thanks, but I really need to start cracking down and doing some training." I sat down at the table, taking a plate and breaking two biscuits on it. I then got the ladle, pouring gravy on my plate as I began to eat. "I have waited eight days, and have done nothing. They announced the battles and times yesterday and I didn't even get out to pokecenter to check."

"Its probably a good thing that you didn't." Bill shoved down the last piece of bacon. "I mean, with all those new trainers, I bet the pokecenter was packed. Besides, it's not like you need to worry about it. You are the returning champion after all, surly none of those kids are better than you."

"Bill, because I am the returning champion that means I have to watch out even more. People have been studying me like a hawk, seeing what pokemon I use and what moves they know. I have seen news reporters and trainers hiding behind me every time I go out, trying to dig up some dirt on me." I dug my fork into my plate, pulling up part of a biscuit covered in gravy. "The main reason why I haven't been training for eight days is because I was waiting and watching, seeing when the training grounds were not being used. Also, I noticed yesterday that only one reporter was behind me, all day. They must have just realized that I wasn't going to use my pokemon."

"So when do you plan on training?"

"Late and early." I said, drinking some of my favorite pop as I placed the glass bottle back down on the table. "I found an old training ground about a mile up in the woods. I used it last year with… my friend I was traveling with."

"You mean the old training grounds they had before they remodeled the league ten years ago?"

"That's the one."

"But, Kyle, they closed that off because it was very rough terrain."

"Exactly. That same terrain is what they currently use in the matches for the champion league. They just don't want anyone to know about it."

"Oh." Bill said, taking another bite of his biscuit. "I see."

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_ We both turned. The door in the living room was being knocked on, something that we both had grown accustomed to these past few days.

"Want me to get it?" Bill asked.

"Nah, I'll go." I stood up, taking off my green apron as I walked to the door. I noticed that I had a gravy stain on the collar of my black T-shirt. My dark denim pants, however, were clean. _I swear, somehow I will always end up making a mess on myself. Its like I am a magnet for food._ I put my hand on the doorknob, turning it and seeing the same familiar brown cowboy hat.

"Howdy." Travis smiled with a piece of wheat in his mouth. "What'cha into today?"

I looked at him blankly for a minute. "Where do you get that wheat you are always chewing on? There isn't a wheat field around here for miles."

"Oh, this?" He asked, pulling the piece of wheat out of his mouth before putting it back in. "Ya see, back on the farm we have a ton of it. And some of my pokemon loves the stuff, so I keep it in an item holder."

"So, you and your pokemon eat grass? Nice. You have told me so much about you and your pokemon just in one sentence. Nice way of keeping your pokemon a 'surprise'." I laughed. "Besides, you might not even get the chance to fight me in the league. I might get beat, you never know."

"Oh trust me, I know." He smiled. "I gave my word to a little lady that I would win this year's league, and I know that I'm going to see you in the semi finals." He then took off his hat, showing his short dark brown almost black hair. "I have seen the way you pushed all those trainers over with one pokemon, and not just one battle, the same pokemon against seven trainers. You fought 42 pokemon with that one Scizor, and never lost a single match." He then laughed. "The bad news is that now everyone knows your strongest pokemon. That Scizor is burnt toast when I fight you."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "He isn't my strongest one, by far. And from what you just said I have figured out half of your party already."

"Oh, and what's that?" Travis narrowed his eyebrows.

"First off you have a Sandslash, I saw it that day at the hospital. Second you have a Rapidash, because it eats grass, or wheat in your case, and my Scizor is 'burnt toast' as you said." I saw him open his eyes wide as I continued. "And the last one I know of is either a Tauros or a Miltank, because both of those chew cud, or in this case, wheat, and you have a bandana around your neck that has Miltank on it."

Travis then smiled. "Well, you found out three of them. But this bandana doest have anything to do with my choice of pokemon. You see, this was a gift, from that sexy little lady that's gonna go with me with I win." He then looked up to me. "But as for you, I already know your party as well."

"Oh really?" I leaned up on the door. "Seeing as how I have 12 pokemon now and have only shown 4 of them to people since I have been here, I figure you only know one third of my party." I then stood back up, keeping my hand on the knob. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you Travis?

"Well, Have you checked your matches yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, neither have I. I was wondering if you wanted to go check them with me?"

"Listen, I'm not your mother. If you want someone to hold your hand while you cross the road-"

"No!" He huffed. "Just figured we could looks at um' together. You know, see when we fight."

"Hmph. Alright, but I'm eating breakfast right now. Would you like to come in? We have plenty leftovers."

"Alrighty! Thank ya!" Travis walked in the house as I shut the door behind him. He was rather tall, standing about five or so inches above me. "Wow…" His eyes widened as he looked around the room. "This place is so big!"

"You're just in the living room." I said, walking to the kitchen. "Food's in here."

I walked in and took my seat back. Bill was done, and was picking his teeth with a toothpick when Travis came in. Travis looked at Bill with a shocked look on his face. "Are you a returnin' champion too?"

"What?" Bill laughed. "No! I'm Bill, I came here with Kyle."

"Bill, huh? Hmm… sounds familiar… and you look familiar too…"

"He should." I said, giving Travis a plate as Pichu ran over to me. "He made the PC system that everyone uses. Here, get some food before this little mouse eats it all." I looked over at Pichu who had gravy caked into this fur and was plowing into the same giant biscuit he tried to eat before.

"You mean you're _the _Bill?" Travis jumped.

"Thanks, Kyle." Bill groaned, looking at me.

"Hey, share in the fame, ya know?" I laughed. _Bill always hated the media, just as much as me. We were both people that like to stay alone, let the world do its thing and leave us out of it. _

"Wow! I get to see the world famous Kyle Gray and Bill, in the same house!"

"Hey, Travis." I said, getting his attention. "Word of advice. You know we are people. Regular people. So don't treat us any differently, okay?"

"How am I supposed to treat you like those regular trainers out there? You two are rich and famous!"

"First off, we're not rich."

"Speak for yourself." Bill said, sipping on some milk.

"Second off, if you want to stick around and eat, or hang around me anymore, just listen to me. Treat us like normal people, because that's what we are. People." After that I saw Travis look down, almost like he was being scolded. He walked around the table, taking a biscuit, some gravy and then sat down at the far end.

"Umm…" He said, digging in. "The room service is great here. Taste a lot better than the stuff I have been getting."

"Thanks. I tried." I said, finishing up the last bite of mine.

"Wait." Travis looked at me. "You mean you made this?"

"Yep." I stood up, taking mine and Bill's plate over to the sink. I washed them up as Travis kept eating. By the time I was done, however, Travis was standing by the sink with his cleaned off plate. I offered to take it from him, but he shook his head.

"I'm the guest here, I'll clean up." He smiled as he began to wash his plate.

"Okay, suit yourself." I put the clean plates up as I walked over to the table, grabbing my jacket and heading for the door. I looked back, yelling to Bill. "Hey Bill."

"Yeah?"

"Me and Travis here are going to the pokecenter. Keep an eye on Pichu and make sure he doesn't eat any more sweets."

"Okay, will do!" Bill then turned around, looking at Pichu munch away on another biscuit. "You hear that, I got my eye on you." I chuckled as I watched Bill start to eye down Pichu, who then ran and hid behind the brochure that was standing up on the table.

"Ready ta' go?" Travis asked, wiping his wet hands off on his button up shirt.

"Yeah, sure." I opened the door, walking out on the porch as he joined me. On the porch I left my helmet on the swing, which I picked up. I then reached into my pocket, taking out my bike capsule and throwing it on the ground. In a big puff of smoke the bike appeared on the lawn, stickers and all.

"Oh, come on." Travis said, looking at the bike. "Don't you ever walk?"

"Walk?" I said, putting on my helmet. "That sounds too much like 'work' to me." I chuckled, raising the lid to my bike as I slid in the seat.

"Well, if you're takin' that, then I guess I'll use my ride." He pulled a pokeball off his belt as he released it on the ground. There stood a tall Rapidash, and for a minute, it reminded me of a blue one I used to know. Travis put a hand on its horn as he pulled himself up. The horse whinnied and then stood still as Travis got situated. "How about a race?" Travis said.

"Nah, sorry." I looked out to the streets. "I really wouldn't want to shoot you down before I get the chance to beat you in the ring."

"Yeah right!"

I revved the engine, taking off down the road.

***_-Scene Change-_***

As I expected, the pokecenter was vacant today. Most all the trainers were either still asleep at 9am, checked the battle times the previous day, or a combination of the two. Needless to say, Travis and I were the only ones in the pokecenter when we went in. That is, with the exception of Nurse Joy and the Chansey.

We both pulled up a seat next to two vacant computers, plugged in our information and then went to our emails. I waited for him to read his email before I typed in my password. _Can't be too cautious, especially with what happened last time._ I checked my email, and found a letter labeled _"Pokémon League Official Battle Matrix"_. It read:

_Dear Mr. Kyle Gray;_

_Attached to this document is a list of the current battles and when they will be appearing at the upcoming league. Your information has been processed and you have been selected to battle trainers that using a system that assigns at random. The information given in this document has been laid out via the format of a matrix. If you have any difficulties reading this matrix, or need additional assistance please contact or visit the Indigo Plateau Main Visitor's Office between the hours of 9am and 4pm. You will need to bring a valid ID as well as your trainer identification for verification of your entry. _

_Thank you and good luck in the league!_

I saw the little attachment icon on the side of the email and clicked it. A processing bar came up, and then a fifty nine page document with names, lines, dashes, and times wrote out beside them. I looked over to Travis and saw him staring at the screen, scanning his eyes over and over the pages trying to figure out how they laid out. I then looked up to the Nurse Joy, who walked back in the back and the Chansy followed. I looked back to the computer and saw a little printer icon. _Hmm… I wonder._ I clicked the button, and heard a "Err-ka-Chhuuurrrrrr…."

We both turned to the printer on the front desk. It was beeping and … ka-churr-ing… and then, it starting spitting out papers. I looked over to Travis, who looked back to me, then we both logged out and stood up to walk over to the printer. I picked up the first page, which had the words: _"Trainer ID Number 0942091 – Kyle Gray – PC Number 17 – Indigo Plateau Pokecenter – Document: League Matrix –"_

"Well, what do you know." I smiled.

"Wait, you mean you can print it out?" Travis asked as he looked back to the computer. "Man, I sure wish I knew how to work one of those contraptions like you do."

"I don't know anything about it." I shrugged. "I just clicked the printer button." Before long the printer stopped spitting out paper. I grabbed them up and looked over the first few pages. "This looks like it is laid out like a map, or puzzle of some kind." I then walked over to the table and began to layout pages that lined up with one another. After a while of sorting and reading I had it all pieced together.

"Alright, so if I am reading this right, there are sixteen different buildings to battle in, and each one will have 32 people battling in them."

"Which means there's 512 people that entered this year." Travis chimed in.

I did some math on my fingers before looking back at him. "Wow, you are really good with numbers."

"Well, ya gotta be when you're a farmer."

"Alright, so, each one of those 16 buildings will have one victor, and then that victor will move on to the Champion Building, where the semi finals will be held."

"And the winner there will go on and fight the Elite Four?"

"Yep, that's right." I nodded. "And it says here on this extra paper that in the preliminaries you will only be allowed to use three pokemon per battle. In the semi finals, however, you can use all six."

"Don't cha you already know this stuff?" Travis asked. "I mean, you did come here last year."

"Yeah I did, but this is different. The Johto League does things differently than the Kanto. Last year we all fought in three buildings, with over two hundred in each building."

"Oh, I see. Well, lets see where we are."

We both examined the papers, darting our eyes back and forth over the lines, struggling to find our names. _Lets see, Kyle Gray, Kyle Gray… where am I?_ "A-ha!" I said, pointing my finger down on building number 16. "There I am. Looks like my first fight is in five days, on the 14th at 10:20am. And then I'll fight again at 12:40, one at 3:00 and then the last one at 5:20." I looked over at Travis. "How about you, what does yours look like?"

"Hmm. Mine is in building number 12, and I think everyone fights at the same times."

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

"Because the same times you called off to me are the times I'm fighting."

"That's strange." I said, looking down at the fight times, but sure enough, they were. "Hmm…" My eyes then darted around the charts again. "Where is he?"

"Who are you looking for?" Travis asked, looking over my shoulder.

"Name's Lance."

"Oh, that guy." Travis groaned. "He's over there, in building 1."

"Wow, really?" I scanned my eyes over to that chart.

"Yeah, that guy's been bragging since yesterday about how he's in the first spot of the first building, and he is going to pull out as number one in the finals."

"Hmph. I take it you don't like the guy?"

"Nah… he's really stuck up." He then spat out his chewed up piece of wheat. "That guy thinks he's all that, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know." I smiled, folding up the papers as I held them under my arm. "He used to be the leader of the Elite Four."

"Wha?" Travis jumped. "Not that guy!"

"Yep. And I'll tell you what, he's all hot air."

"Well, Kyle." Travis said as we walked out of the pokecenter. "I got to head on back and train. Thanks for helping me though." He released his Rapidash as he climbed on.

"Yeah, no problem." I said, throwing out my bike as the cloud of smoke appeared. I raised the hood, slipped on my helmet and waved to him as we both took off. Him, taking a shortcut to the training ground, and me heading back to the house.

***_-Scene Change-_***

To Bill's dismay I kept to my word. I didn't cook for the next five days, instead my pokemon and I were on a strict training schedule. I trained Pichu inside all day and then worked with my other pokemon through the night in the abandoned training ground, the one that me and Shonna used last year. I must admit, the place brought back memories, memories that only made my heart hurt. But, it was the only place I could train in seclusion.

As the days grew closer to the tournament I saw less and less of Travis. I wasn't sure if that was part of his plan in the 'perfect strategies of winning' or if he was just too busy to stop by. Either way, even if he did show up, I was much to busy to shoot the breeze_._ Training had taken up all of the five days that was left, and with the training, I grew closer with my pokemon. Kabutops was just starting to learn how to channel his touchy-feely qualities to battles, and Scizor seemed to almost enjoy my company now. Pichu increased his speed and dodging ability tremendously, and Umbreon kept impressing me more and more with his Last Resort. Gyarados, Pidgeot, Arcanine, and Dragonite needed little to no training, but I still brought them out and let them get some exercise. Beedrill preferred to train with Typhlosion, for whatever reason, and Raticate, well, he wasn't much on battling at all. All he did was sit around and snicker when one of my pokemon missed an attack and ran into a tree.

Never the less, time seemed to pass through my fingers, and before long it was the big day. Trainers were everywhere, lining up outside of the buildings hiding in the pokecenter, doing some last minute preparations before the long day of fighting. _I had already healed my pokemon the day before,_ _so there wasn't any need to stop in the pokecenter yet. Besides that, they allotted two hours for healing between the battles, so I would go during that time if I needed to._

I followed the map I printed out that day that me and Travis went to the pokecenter. "Lets see, building 16… building 16…" I followed the map, which led me to the giant arena behind the food court.

"Pi! Pi-cha!" Pichu said, climbing over my shoulder and pointing at a hotdog stand. "Pi-chu!"

"Pichu, you just had a pop tart before we left. You'll have to wait till lunch to eat like everyone else."

"Pi…" He huffed, draping his self over my shoulder and letting his paws fall into the front pocket of my green jacket.

When I walked in the building I noticed right away how small the rings were. There were 16 in total, and each one was the size of a small gym ring, which were all located in the center of the building. Around the walls were rows of benches, and also a few booths where people were selling little souvenirs, as well as other things. _Hmm…_ I thought. _With the size of the rings it limits me and my choice of pokemon. Arcanine and Dragonite would be pushing it in a ring this small, and Gyarados is crap out luck. Kabutops needs room to be able to effectively use his attacks, but I guess I could use him if I got in a pinch. _

"Attention trainers!" An announcer said over the speaker system that was stationed in the four corners of the giant room. "The first match will begin in 10 minutes. Please, all trainers make their way to their rings." The announcer went quiet for a little bit as I began to walk to ring 7, but then he chimed back in. "Also, we are currently taking bets on the winning three people. All bets must be made before the end of the first round."

"What?" I jumped, watching people pile around the announcer guy and his booth. "They are allowing teenagers to gamble?" I sighed. "Well, what else should I expect from Johto? They also allow prostitution and distribution of drugs to minors." I turned my back to the group as I made my way to ring 7. Ahead of me I saw a boy, probably 12 or so, standing beside my ring. He was leaned up on the small stage, with some pre-teen girls hanging all over him. I walked by him, rolling my eyes as he turned to face me.

"Hey, you." He said, looking at me as I walked up to my side of the stage.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Is that little mouse the best you got?" He huffed. "Man, that means I'm going to get mouse guts all over my white shoes." He picked up his feet, showing off his white leather shoes, which was only complemented by the white cap he had turned around backwards on his head. He was also wearing dark baggy jeans that hung down far too low, showing off his striped boxers that were hanging out of his pants. His hoodie wasn't any better. Black, baggy, and tucked in under his boxers of all things.

"Oh, hehehe." The girls giggled as they hugged him more.

"Yeah, it sure is hard to clean out blood from these clothes." He smiled, wrapping an arm around one of the girls.

"Oh, you wont have to worry." I smiled. "Your team's blood will be caked on there so thick you wont be able to see anything else."

"What was that you little maggot?" He screamed, shaking his fist at me as he spun around.

"Better hurry up, show's about to start."

"You'll pay for that!" He screamed as he ran on his side of the stage.

Before long a referee came over to our stage when a buzzer went off. "HOOONNNKKKKK!" The air horn sounded as the announcer picked up the microphone again. "We will now begin with the first matches. If you are not at your rings by the time I am done with my announcement, you will be disqualified and be forced to forfeit. This will be a three on three match. No trainer may switch out during this time, if they do it will count as a knocked out pokemon. Referee's, you may…" There was a long pause as the announcer grabbed the air horn again. I watched the kid on the other end of our ring start to pour with sweat. He gripped his pokeball tight, gritting his teeth as he looked at me. _This is so strange. I know I guess I should be nervous, or something, but I'm not._ "BEGIN! HOOOOONNNNNNNKKKKKKKKK!"

The referee looked at me, then to the kid. "Who would like to begin?"

"You can." I motioned to the kid.

"No!" He screamed back. "You make the first move! I'm going to cream you in your first match! You wont even make it to the next round."

"Suit yourself." I looked over to Pichu, who was on my shoulder. "Why don't you show him what you're made of?"

"Pi-chu!" He squeaked, pumping his arms as he leaped on the stage.

"I knew it!" The boy called out. "But I also know that electric have no effect on grass type!" He released the pokeball in his hand, and out came a pokemon that I never thought I would see in a league competition.

"Meta-Meta… Metapod!" The bug pokemon spoke as he rocked back and fourth in his hard cocoon.

"Phfftt…" I bit my lip, trying to hold in my laugher, but couldn't. "Bwa-hahaha!" I rolled on the ground.

"What?" The boy screamed. "What? What's your problem?"

"Oh! Ha-ah!" Oh my gosh! Ha!" I choked on my words as I tried to stand. "First off, electric attacks do less damage to grass, but it's not immune to it. And second, that's a freakin' bug type, and not just any bug type, it's one of the weakest!"

"Oh yeah! We'll show you!" The boy pointed out his finger as he issued a command. "Use Harden!"

"Phfft…" I cracked up again.

"Meta…" Metapod began to get a clear white shimmer on it as its skin became harder.

"Pichu, use a Thunder Bolt." I laughed out, still trying to find my breath. I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even keep my eyes open when Pichu attacked. A white light took over the stage and when it was over Metapod laid there on its side, burnt to a crisp.

"Oh no! Metapod!" The boy cried out, recalling his pokemon.

"Blue side, one point!" The referee called out as he held up a flag to my side. "Red side, zero." He then held up a red flag to the kid's side.

"Not for long! That rat is dead! Go!" The boy released his next pokemon, which went in the air as the red light around it dissipated.

"Pidge!" The Pidgeotto called out as it flapped its wings in the air.

I looked at the kid confused. "How… How did you…"

"Evolve my pokemon?" He asked, turning away with a grin on his face.

"No." I shook my head. "How did you even win a gym match? That has got to be the worst swap I have ever seen."

"I don't need to fight a gym." He smiled. "I got my certification from Ecruteak City Pokemon School!"

"Well, I'd ask for your money back."

"Ha! Shows what you know, stupid! That school is a public school."

"Oh… so that explains it."

"You butthead! You're going down! Pidgeotto! Wing Attack!"

"Pichu… just shock it."

Pidgeotto called out a fearsome cry as it flew into the air. It circled around up near the steel rafters of the building, swooping down as its wings began to glow a bright white. It closed in on Pichu, who just stared up at it oddly. He even tilted his head, looking at the bird like _"What are you doing?"._ As Pidgeotto grew closer, I watched as Pichu began to build up energy. When the wing struck him, he released the stored energy into Pidgeotto, reversing the attack and sizzling the bird. It fell to the ground, feathers smoking. "Pi?" Pichu tilted his head and looked at the bird before poking it with his foot. The bird didn't move, but was recalled by its trainer.

"Blue side, two points!" The referee called. "Red side, zero!"

The kid then grit his teeth. "Alright then, no more Mr. Nice Guy. This is my strongest one. Go!"

I watched as his last pokemon stood on the field. "You know what?" I said. "I take it back. That Pidgeotto wasn't the worst swap I've seen. You just topped yourself."

"Poli?" The Poliwhirl said, tilting his head as he looked at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The boy screamed.

"Argg…" I groaned, turning away as I waved my hand. "Pichu, I'm tired of this kid. Use Volt Tackle." And before the kid could say another word I heard Poliwhirl hit the ground.

"First match over!" The referee said. "Blue side, score three. Red size, score zero!"

Pichu ran and jumped on my shoulder as I walked off the stage, leaving the boy screaming and cursing over his lose.

***_-Scene Change-_***

The rest of the matches that day went the same way. I only had to use one pokemon for each match. First up was Pichu, second I used Umbreon, third was Pidgeot, fourth up was Typhlosion, and fifth I used Beedrill. Nearly all of the trainers in my building were ones that got their pokemon degree from a school, and then entered in the league that way. A few were trainers, and they were a bit tougher, but I knew that the true challenge waited the next day.

It was 5:20 when my last match of the day was done. Beedrill had just put the whoopin' on an Ivysaur, Houndoom, and a Snorlax, which was a stupid last move. The pokemon was so large it took up the whole ring, and got stuck, which made my victory that much easier.

I walked out of the door, and saw the sun setting behind the food court in front of me. "So how'd it go?" I heard a voice say from behind. I jumped, looking to see Travis leaning up against the wall of building number 16. "I take's that ya' won?"

"Yeah." I chuckled. "How about you?"

"Was there ever a doubt in your mind?" He huffed. "Yep, I actually got out early because a guy went the to the bathroom and didn't get back in time, so they disqualified him."

"Wow, that sucks for him." I laughed.

"I would have won anyway." Travis then turned to look at me. "Hey, they already updated the battles for tomorrow."

"How are they laid out?"

"Building one's winner fights at the first spot with building number two's winner. Then three and four, and five and six, and so on like that."

"Are they all at the same time?" I asked.

"Nah. This time they go in order, with only a ten minute break in-between."

"Ouch." I then thought about this. "Wait, that means that you fight, then I fight, then we fight each other."

"Yep, it sure does." Travis smiled. "Well Kyle, I'm gonna head back home. Get a good night's rest in."

"Yeah, I guess I should too." I watched as he pulled out his pokeball, releasing his Rapidash and taking off. I sighed, reaching in my pocket as I took out the capsule for my bike. I pushed the button, throwing it on the ground as I hopped into the seat and drove down the road to the pokecenter.

***_-Scene Change-_***

When I got to the center Nurse Joy took my pokemon, healed them, and then checked my e-mail. Sure enough, what Travis said was true. The e-mail said that all 16 of the winning competitors have to be preset at the Main Champion Battle Arena at 8am sharp tomorrow morning. There will be no set times for battles, and all battles will be six on six. So all trainers must show up. If they are not present they will be disqualified.

I logged out of my account, walked through the sliding doors, and hopped on my bike again. Pichu was still in the cup holder when I lifted the lid and sit down. He was acting like he was driving the bike, like he always use to do back in Kanto. I smiled, revving the engine and taking off down the road. _It was late, and I really do need to get my sleep. After all, tomorrow is a big day._


	30. Round One

_==-_ __**Authors Note**__ _-==_

In this chapter I dip into the story of a very good author here on FanFic. I have borrowed some of her back ground story on the famous trainer Red. A link to her story is located here - .net/s/6220889/1/Pokemon_Rose . Please stop by and take a look at it.

_**ALSO!**_It isn't bad, but there is some sexual references and slang used in this chapter and the next. I consider it to still be in the PG-13 range, but this is just a warning.

I guess that's all. I hope you all like the chapter and my story. And, just so you know, reviews are always nice!

**Chapter 29**

**Round One**

It was before daybreak when I first woke up. Pichu and I hopping in the shower, and then got ready to leave once we were done. My clothes I picked for today were some comfy ones; my green jacket, semi baggy blue jeans, and a black T-shirt with one of my favorite game logo's on it. For a long day of battling I needed to be as calm and relaxed as possible. _I know that this is just the semi finals, and the real battle begins tomorrow, but I have to get through this day before I can even thing about the Elite Four. _

We ate a quick breakfast before walking out. Bill said that he would catch up with us later. I was going to be the last battle of the first lineup, so there wasn't any need for him to get up at 7:00 am, like I had to. _Well, I suppose I didn't have to, but to be able to get up there before the first match, I would have to leave at 7:30._ Which is what I did.

The sun had just started to rise above the training ground when Pichu and I stepped outside. I slid on my helmet as Pichu picked up his goggles from the porch. I took out my capsule, throwing it on the ground as I raised the hood of the bike. The navigation screen came on as I turned on the bike, as well as the radio, which I had tuned in to the Indigo Plateau Radio Station.

"Now, welcome back to the League Champion Semi Finals!" The announcer man said. "It is now 7:30 and the trainers in this years Final Line up have just started to pile through the doors as we speak."

"Hmm." I smiled, revving the engine as me and Pichu took of the road to the building.

"So tell me Joe," another announcer said on the radio. "Who do you have your money placed on this year?"

"You mean, who do I think will win, Bob?" Joe answered. "I really couldn't tell you. So far in the preliminaries there have been quite a few trainers that have shown lots of potential this year."

"Oh yes! I heard of that! Wasn't there this one guy that only used one pokemon to battle with yesterday?"

"Why yes there was. In fact, there were several that did. The returning champion Kyle Gray use only one pokemon per match, as well as this new trainer named Travis."

I shook my head as I turned up the radio. _Did I hear that right?_

"Oh yes, but don't forget about that other competitor, Joe. Lance only used one pokemon for the entire day yesterday. He didn't even take it to get healed. That guy blew through every match without even breaking a sweat!"

"So you think he is going to pull up and fight the Elite Four this year?"

"It's hard to say Joe, but there is one thing that is for sure, this will be a day to remember in pokemon history!"

"You heard it here folk!" Joe cut in. "This is the Bob and Joe show, live from the Indigo Plateau, broadcasting the Johto League to you at home as soon as it happens. Will be back after this word from our sponsor. Remember folks, _'Torcky Toilet Paper is the only TRUE Scooper, Pooper, Picker, Upper'. _We will be right back." After that the radio went into this really stupid song about toilet paper scooping up poop.

"I don't want to hear this crap." I clicked a button on the radio, switching it back to the CD setting.

***_-Scene Change-_***

The main building for the battles was big, but I didn't see many trainers around. I looked down at the navigation system, checking the time. _Crap. Its 7:45. Eah, oh well, that means I got 15 minutes to get a ticket for me and Bill and…_

"Hey!" I heard a voice call out, cutting my train of thought off. I picked up my head, looking behind me as I saw a bright red horse running my way. "Hey! Kyle!" Travis called out as his Rapidash ran as hard as it could. "Wait for me!"

"Hft…" I huffed, in a kind of chuckling way, raising the hood and standing up. Pichu jumped on my jacket, grabbing it in his little claws as he climbed up to my shoulder. I pushed the three button combination on the bike, closing it up as Travis slid to a stop beside me.

"Howdy!" He called out to me as he recalled his Rapidash. "What's new on you end, city boy?"

_City boy?_ I looked at him strange. "You know, I might not have grown up on a farm like you, but I wasn't in the city either. I'll have you know my house is in a town smaller than anything in Johto."

"Eah, what's that matter. You still wouldn't know the meanin' of a hard days work." He laughed as he slapped me on the back. "Any way, whats goin' on?"

"Well, I heard on the radio that you only used one pokemon per match yesterday."

"Did they say that?" He laughed. "Well, all that hard work my pokemon do on the farm really pays off."

I stared at him blankly as we walked over to the ticket booth. "Two please." I said, paying the man as he gave me the tickets.

"Awe, that's offly nice of ya." Travis said as he held his hand out. "You know, buyin' my ticket and all."

"What?" I laughed, stuffing both tickets in my pocket. "Sorry, the other one is for Bill. I figured that a hard working man like you can buy his own ticket. I mean, unless you NEED help from a little 'city boy'." I stuffed my hands in my pocket as I walked inside the arena. My first stop was to register myself at the front desk, and, just like last year, the front desk doubled as a pokecenter. There were several trainers in there, healing their pokemon and checking things on the PC's, but there were a few left. I slid out a chair, sitting down as I plugged in my information. I then opened up my email, and scrolled down my list of contacts till I reached 'Bill'. Clicking on his name I placed my second ticket in the deposit unit, left him a little message, and then clicked the send button. An icon came up, showing that the message had sent when I closed out of my account. I then got up, Pichu still on my shoulder, and went to wait in line to get my pokemon healed.

***_-Scene Change-_***

I made my way out of the front office and to the bleachers. Luckily, they were located pretty close together. "Lets see, section B, row 4, seat 27. Wow, section B, huh? That's right up front." I laughed. _I bet tomorrow I'll be able to sell this ticket for some big bucks. _I followed the arrows, circling around the stadium and coming to the entrance of the row. Surprisingly, not many people were there, perhaps because it was just the semi finals. _I have a feeling that everyone will show up tomorrow, for the big battle. And besides that, I know that if I lost in the preliminaries then I would have left right then. So, perhaps that's why there wasn't that many people here, they all left. _The first two sections were somewhat full, with every other seat taken, and to my dismay, I found my seat.

"Well if it aint the city boy!" Travis said as he propped his feet up on the seat in front of him.

I groaned, sitting down and leaving a seat between us for Bill. _I guess that does make since, after all we did buy our tickets at the same time. _

"So where's your other friend at? He's going to miss the first battle."

"He's not going to come till I fight."

"Oh what? Is it too early for the other city boy to wake up?" Travis laughed. "Back on the farm we wake up a 5 in da' mornin' every day so we's can feed the animals."

"What's up with you?" I looked at him confused. "For the past two weeks you have been as good as gold to me, and now your acting like… well, like such a pig."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." He smiled, closing his eyes as he pulled his cowboy hat down to block the morning sun. "I'm acting just the same as I have this whole time."

"Yeah… right…" I muttered under my breath.

"Thank you and welcome to the annual Johto League Champion Competition!" An announcer called out over the arena. "This is the semi final matches, which takes the 16 preliminary winners from the previous day of battling, and makes them all face off! Only one trainer will pull away with the title today as the Champion, and that one trainer will then have the chance to battle the Elite Four tomorrow for the title of Pokémon Master!" What little people that were in the audience cheered as the announcer continued. "The battles for this entire day are simple! Two preliminary winners will face off in order in a six on six match! The winner will advance to the next fight, the loser however will not. If you lose a match here there is no coming back! The first match will begin in fifteen minutes. Both competitors, from building number 1 and building number 2, please make your way to the stage at this time. If you are not present at the time of match then you will be disqualified! Good luck to all trainers! We will come back in fifteen minutes to announce the battle!"

I eyed the stage as Lance stepped on his side of the field. He was just how I remembered him to be. Tall, about three or so years older than me, with red hair that was spiked up high. He was wearing a new suit, however. It was navy blue with orange stripes on it that went down the shirt, and two stripes across top of his boots. His cape stayed the same, red on the inside and black on the outside. He stood there calm and collective with his arms crossed, waiting for the other trainer to show it. It took a few minutes, but she didn't finally make her appearance. She was about the same height as me, with long brown hair that went down half way past her back. It was curled at the end, causing her hair to spring as she walked. She was wearing a white zip-up hoodie with a green-stripped scarf. She had on a pair of black pants that were tucked inside her knee high grey boots, which were also zip-ups.

"Whhi-shooo!" Travis whistled. "She's hot!"

I turned my head to look at him. "Didn't you say you already had a girl?"

"Yeah, but I only want to get her done, if you know what I mean." He then pointed to the girl on the field. "Now her! Wow! I would sidle down with a woman that pretty!"

I rolled my eyes, watching the two on the field stare each other down until the announcer came back. "Welcome back all trainers and visitors to this year semi final matches! No one wants to lose having come this far!"

"I'd say not." I huffed under my breath, keeping my eye on lance. _I know he would have changed his party up this year, at least improved and trained his dragons on land instead of just water. I need to watch him close, annualize his new fighting style, and-_

"Woooooo!" Travis yelled out as he stood, interrupting my train of thought, yet again. "You go hot momma! Yeah! Kick his butt! And turns around so I can sees yours!"

"Oh brother."

"Now!" The announcer spoke. "Slot one will have the first move. Referee, to your station!" I watched as a ref walked onto the field, standing on a podium on the far side, and then pushed a button. All three small stages that Lance, the girl, and the ref were standing on all rose above the grassy field. "This match will be on a grass field. Referee, are you ready?" The ref then picked up both the red flag and the blue flag, and gave a single to the announcer. "Alright. Challenger 1, make your move, and let the match begin!"

I watched Lance reach for a pokeball around his belt as he threw it out. A red light shined on the grass field as a Charizard stomped and roared, blowing flames into the air while it did. _Hmm… that's new._ I put a finger to my chin as I observed. _I wonder why he chose that to begin with? And more important, what can it do?_ The girl reached into her purse that she was carrying, pulling out a black ultraball and threw it on the field. Out from the light came a fearsome looking Nidoqueen, one that was just as big as Charizard.

"Oh my folks, it looks like this battle is getting heated up from the word 'go'!" The announcer started. "I wonder if either one will have the advantage over the other?"

Lance started of with a Flamethrower attack, but the Nidoqueen dodged, diving into the grass and rolling over to show that it had a massive chunk of ground in its claws, which it held over its head. The girl trainer issued a command, and the Nidoqueen used Strength, throwing the chuck of ground at Charizard. The dragon flew in the air, but was still hit by the attack in its lower half, making it do a spin in the air and land face down on the ground. The girl trainer threw out her hand, pointing at the downed Charizard as the Nidoqueen began to charge. Lance, stood their, calm, as the rampaging pokemon came closer.

"What is this?" The announcer spoke. "It would appear that the mightily Charizard has been taken down with one hit. Now it seems as though the opponent is going in for the final attack!"

I watched as Charizard laid on the ground, eyes opened and waiting for the Nidoqueen to come closer to it. _What is it doing?_ But my question was soon answered when I saw the Charizard punched both of its hands into the ground. It then pulled the ground apart, making a giant crack in the earth. The Nidoqueen tried to stop, sliding and pushing her feet backwards, but she was going in too fast. It slid, falling into the crack in the ground, and then it all went silent. The girl trainer screamed for her Nidoqueen, but nothing happened. The crowd went silent as Lance began to speak to the girl. No one could hear it, but the girl did jump down off the podium and go over to the crack. She reached for her pokeball and recalled it as the ref motioned that lance got a point.

"What the heck just happened down there?" Travis asked, watching the girl climb back up the ladder to her stage.

"It's a move called Fissure." I said, closing my eyes as I took a deep breath.

"Fissure? I never heards of that one."

"And you probably never will again. It was an old move, taught by the pokemon master before me or Professor Oak, who lived in Kanto. Red."

"Wait, hold on." Travis laughed. "You mean Red? The guy who beat the elite four over seventy years ago and then was never heard of again?"

"Of course he was heard of again, you twit!" I barked. "He lived in Pallet Town, and the reason why he was never heard of again was because he became a pokemon guru of sorts. He wrote a book, which spurred up the whole trainer movement, and then dedicated his life to the study of pokemon. From them on he worked hand in hand with a new trainer called Samuel Oak, who he trained and soon took his place as the Pokemon Master of the Kanto Region."

"What does this have to do with that move right there?"

"In his book he talked about how he won a TM from the old leader of the seventh gym in Kanto. That TM was a 'One Hit K-O' attack. The name of it was Fissure." I then paused looking at Lance as he stood there motionless while his Charizard pushed his hands in the ground again and close up the gap.

"Okay, so what? Lance went and got that Red guy to teach him the move. Big deal."

"No, he didn't. Last year lance didn't have that Charizard, so that means he must have just got it recently. And Red died twenty years ago in a freak accident when one of his pokemon went berserk, burning his house down with him in it."

"Well that's a sucky way to die." Travis watched as the girl threw out her next pokemon, a Jolteon. "Maybe he got that Oak guy to teach it to him?"

"Highly unlikely." I muttered as the two pokemon took off after one another. Charizard blasting Flamethrowers and Jolteon dodging them all with Quick Attack. "Oak wont fight, not for anything. He has completely changed his life around, only using pokemon to study, not to battle."

"Who cares." Travis laughed. "I just gotta watch out for that after I cream you."

I glared at him out of the corner of my eye. _Doesn't that idiot get it? If his Charizard knows an ancient attack that can knock any pokemon out with one move, who knows what else he has taught the rest of his team? Some how he was able to get his hands on a technique that hasn't been used in over fifty years, and if he did, there is no telling what other kinds of moves he has learned. _

The Charizard was taken down by the combination of speed and electric attacks of the Jolteon, but then it was quickly taken down by Lances old favorite choice, his faithful Dragonite. The girl the used a Ninetales, which was able to land a few Fire Spins and Flamethrowers before Dragonite took it down too. After that was a Marowak, which didn't last long. The girl then chose her new pokemon, this one being a Clefable, which was able to put the dragon to sleep, and then used Dream Eater to knock it out. I saw lance grit his teeth as he recalled it, and then sent out his third pokemon, his Gyarados. The serpent slithered and made quick work of the pink pokemon with it's Dragon Rage. The girl then threw out her last pokemon, a Noctowl. The owl fluttered and flew around the field before coming to rest on the railing of her platform.

"Finally! A pokemon that doesn't suck!" Travis said

I glared at him again from the corner of my eye. _All the pokemon she had so far were from Kanto. What is his problem?_

The Noctowl did a few physic attacks, but was brought down by the power of Gyarados's Hyper Beam.

"That's it for the first match!" The announcer screamed. "Trainer One has completed the first match successfully and will move on to round two! The second match with trainer Three and Four will begin in fifteen minutes! Please trainers, make your way to the stage now!"

I watched as the girl recalled her pokemon, sobbing as she ran over to Lance, who was walking down from his side of the stage. She ran up to him, wiped the tears away from her eyes and put on a fake smile as she offered her hand to him in the from of a friendly shake, _which is what respectable trainers did._ Lance stood there for a moment, looking at her hand before he raised his up. He slapped her hand away, and shoved on past her, walking back into the shadows of his waiting area.

"Man, what a jerk." I huffed, folding my arms across my chest.

"Hey, city boy, I'll be right back." Travis said, standing up.

"I don't care." With that he ran off. He was gone for the next match, well actually, he was gone for the next three matches. There wasn't much to note, all the pokemon that were used were all pretty common ones, and none of them knew that great of moves. The trainers made some pretty sloppy mistakes, and were dressed pretty funny as well. It really surprised me that a bug catcher made it this far with just a Beedrill, Butterfree, Ledian and Ariados. Every so often a hotdog guy, or snack vender of some kind would walk by, and me and Pichu would pig out on what little food they offered. _I'm telling ya, tomorrow they better give me a lunch break or something, because this is killing me._

It was about noon when Travis came back, half way through the match before his. I watched as he came up beside me with this the girl hugging on his arm. She looked familiar, but I really didn't pay that much attention till I over heard their conversation.

"I can't believe that guy used a move like that." She huffed.

"Hey baby," Travis said, wrapping his arm around her as she sat in the seat to his left. "I told ya, he learned it from the Master himself, Red. No one would have seen that one coming." I glanced over at them, and sure enough it was her. The same girl that lost to Lance about two hours ago was sitting right beside Travis, who had his arm around her with his hand hovering right over her breast. I watched as he pushed his fingers around them when he moved, acting like it was an accident, but then going right back to it a few seconds later.

"Oh brother." I rolled my eyes again.

I saw her peak her head around Travis, looking at me with big wide eyes. "Oh my gosh!" She gocked as I raised an eyebrow, looking at her in the corner of my eye. "You're him! You're Kyle Gray!"

"Umm… yeah?"

"Oh my gosh! Please, would you do me a favor?"

"Umm…" I looked at the girl a little uneasy. "What is it?"

"Would you sign these for me?" I saw her look down, and stuff her hands in her purse, but I guess Travis didn't see that part.

I watched him staring at her breast. "I'll sign um for ya, baby!" He smiled.

I slapped my forehead. "She is looking through her purse you pervert, not down her shirt."

"Oh… um…" Travis then turned away as she looked back up to him, in a ticked off way. "My bad."

"Anyway," the girl continued. "Would you sign these for me?" She then pulled her hands out, holding a pokeball in each one.

I took them from her, holding one in my left hand and placing the other one in the cup holder on the seat. "Got a marker?"

"Oh yeah!" She then dug through her purse again, pulling out a black sharpie and handing it to me. I took the marker, holding it in my right hand as I thought. "Who do I make this out to?"

"Oh, right, make that one out to my sister Kat. K-A-T." She spelled out. "Not like the animal. She's a big fan of you."

"Oh great," I laughed. "Another fan girl. Okay lets see. _To Kat_," I spoke as I wrote. "Is she a trainer too?" I asked.

"Not yet, but she wants to be."

"Alright. _To Kat,_ _Never stop trying, and be true to yourself. Kyle Gray_. There. I don't know why she would want my signature, but here ya go." I smiled handing her the ball as I picked up the other one. "And what do you want on this one?"

"Oh just your autograph."

"Just my autograph?" I asked confused. "No message, not to anyone?"

"Nope, just your name." She smiled.

I shrugged. _Silly girls. _"Alright. _Kyle Gray._ There you go." I handed her the ball, and as I did the announcer cut in.

"That's it! Trainer number 10 has just won! What a tremendous battle! Trainers number 11 and 12 please go to your designated stages at this time!"

"Welp, I gotta go hot stuffs!" Travis said, standing up. "I'll come back after I beat this guy, okay babe?"

He ran off as the girl rolled her eyes. "Thank you so much for signing my pokeballs."

"No problem." I said with a smile. "I still don't understand why you would want me to sign it."

"You are so cool." She beamed as she smiled. "So modest." She then brought out a piece of paper and scribbled something down on it. She tore off a section of it, and handed it to me. "Here's my number. Give me a call sometime if you want." She then winked. "I'd really like it."

"Mmm…" I looked at the paper as I folded it up in my hand. "If I get the chance." I said with a halfhearted smile.

"Great!" She jumped as she stood up. "Now I'm going to get out of here before that creep comes back. You take care, okay?"

"Yeah, you too."

She took off, running down the row before stopping half way and yelling back. "Oh, and Kyle."

"Yeah?"

"Plow that Lance guy in the ground for me!"

I chuckled, giving her the thumbs up as she ran away.

"Pi?" Pichu climbed down my arm, opening my hand and unfolding the paper. _Jessica!_ It said with the dot on the 'i' being a heart. _555-438-2590_. Pichu then looked back up to me. "Pi? Pi-chu?"

"As if." I laughed, crumbling up the piece of paper up. "That's the last thing I need." My heart sunk as I thought back to Shonna. "Oh Shonna… why?" I felt my heart tug again as I began to tear up. "No." I shook my head. "I can't think about her now! I have to stay focused."

"What are you talking about?" A voice said, coming up beside me. I looked up, seeing Bill sipping on a smoothie as he sat down next to me. "Wow! Great seats!" He said, handing me the smoothie that he had in his other hand. I took it from him, and saw that it had two straws in it. "Here, it's strawberry. I knew you two like them."

"Pi-chaaa!" Pichu smiled, crawling up on my shoulder and reaching for one of the straws. I held it up to him as he held the straw between his paws sucking up the smoothie. "Chaa…" He smiled.

"Thanks Bill." I said, slurping on the other straw.

"So, what were you talking about?" Bill asked. "You know, when I arrived?"

"Oh yeah." I reached my hand out to him, unfolding it and showing the paper. He picked it up, reading it as he turned red.

"Kyle? Is this a… what I think it is?"

"Yeah, why don't you call her?"

"Well… I… um…" Bill hesitated as he started to clam up.

"Oh come on." I punched him in the arm. "A stud like you wont get nervous around girls. Come on, I thought you said that you went on a date before."

"Kyle… that was um…"

"Yeah?"

There was a pause. "I've only dated online." He said in a hush way.

I looked at him oddly. "What Bill, I didn-"

"I've only dated online!" I said louder before turning away, blushy faced. "I've never actually been on a date. A real date anyway."

"Well hey, this isn't a date." I smiled. "This is just a phone call. Go on, just say you are the world famous Bill and Kyle told you to call her."

"This isn't some joke is it?" He huffed. "Cause I'm telling you, if I go to another blind date and she turns out to be a he…"

"Whoa." I back up in my seat. "What? No, I am pretty sure she is a girl. And according to Travis 'she's hot'." Bill then looked at the paper. He folded it up and stuffed it in his pocket. He was quite for a long time, staring off into space. "You know Bill." I said calmly. "I'm here for you. If there is anything you want to talk about…"

"Shut up."

"Thank you and welcome back to the sixth battle of the day!" The announcer started up. I wasn't even paying attention and totally missed when Travis and the other guy went to their stages. The ref raised the podiums, and then gave the order to start. The field was still the same field that the other trainers had fought on. The grass was burnt in places from fire attacks, muddy in others from water attacks, and also cracked from ground and rock type moves.

Travis started this turn off with a pokemon I already knew of, his Rapidash. I watched the Rapidash pick up it's hooves, shaking them off in a disgusted way as he stood in a puddle of slushy mud.

"What a dumb move." I commented, watching the other trainer throw out a Richu on the field.

"Why?" Bill asked, bringing out his computer from his book bag as he looked at the field. "Wouldn't a fire type be good on a grass field?"

"Yeah, if the field wasn't covered in water."

Rapidash ran around the field, slipping and falling on the mud. Needless to say the Richu, though slower, was able to bring the mighty Rapidash down with just two Thunderbolts. Rapidash was able to dish out a Flamethrower before he was knocked out, leaving the Richu badly burnt. Travis's next pokemon was his Sandslash, the same pokemon I saw in the pokecenter. I was watching the two's pokemon so closely that I didn't even notice bill staring at me.

"Hey?" He nudged me. "Hey? Kyle?"

"Huh?" I turned to face him. "I'm sorry Bill, I'm just trying to figure out their pokemon."

The Richu tried to use another Thunderbolt, but with Sandslash being part rock, it did little damage. Sandslash then countered the Eclectic attack by forming an energy ball in it's hands and throwing it at the mouse.

"Oh? Well, hang on then." I turned to look at him type away at his computer. "Here, this might peek your interest." He then turned the computer around to where I could see the screen. Pulled up on it was a list of pokemon with pictures and details, and beside the pokemon was a picture of Travis.

"What am I looking at, Bill?"

"Travis's pokemon that he has registered to his trainer card."

I backed up in my seat and looked away. "Bill, is that legal? I mean, can I get kicked out of the league for looking at that?"

"I don't see why not." Bill then looked at the screen closely. "After all, this is on the league's main website."

"What?" I scooted closer to the computer. "I have been all over that website and have never seen that."

"Sure you have. Have you seen those little grayed out boxes beside trainers names?"

"Yeah."

"Well that is their pokemon that they have registered to their trainer card. All you have to do is go into the page source of the website and erase the gray box images from the page and then save it as a html document on your computer."

"Okay, you lost me with 'well'." I said, taking the computer away from him and looking at the pictures. There was a picture of a Fraligator, Fearow, Rapidash, Ampharos, Sandslash and Touros, and beside them were a bunch of numbers and dashes. "Okay Bill, tell me what I'm looking at here." I said, pointing to the numbers.

"Well, right here," he pointed to something that said 'CLP:43'. "This is the Calculated Level Placement, which says that his Fraligator is at level 43." He then moved his finger down the list, showing me its moves. "The letters of a moves name are separated using dashes, lines, letters, and numbers. For instance, it says 'h-yfd5r1o-pbu1mp', which if you take out every other letter it spells out the move Hydro Pump."

"Oh, I see. So, why do that? Jumble the information up?"

"When the box is removed that is the code jargon that tells what information to give and when."

"Oh…" _That still doesn't make any since to me._ I started looking through his pokemon, looking up to see the battle every now and again. _He is making some pretty carless mistakes, but for some reason his is winning._ The Sandslash had already taken out the Richu and also Vulpix. I looked back down to the screen, studying his pokemon and their moves. "These levels seem pretty high." I said, scanning over them. "They are all 40 to 46."

I heard Bill laugh. "You're funny."

"What?" I looked at him confused. "What? What, they are aren't they?"

Bill then looked at me, still laughing, but then dropped his smile as he looked at me confused as well. "You mean you have never heard of the CLP before?"

"No? Why, should I have?"

"Have you ever looked at your own pokemons CLP?"

"Bill, if I have never heard of it how could I have looked at it before?"

Bill then reached over and grabbed the computer back. He closed down Travis's trainer card and then opened the leagues website. He scrolled down till he reached my name, opened it up, changed some code, and then spun the computer around to show me. I looked at the screen, and sure enough there were all my pokemon, with the exception of Articuno that is. I glanced at them looking at their moves and states.

"Well? Still think that 40 is a high CLP?"

I then checked the screen, running my eyes over the levels. The weakest on my team was Raticate, who was at a CLP of 22, but the highest blew my mind. My eyes grew wide as I looked at Arcanine's CLP. "Dose Arcanine really have a 79?"

"Yep. All of your pokemon that you have owned since Kanto have amazingly high levels. Of course, you could expect that seeing as how they beat the Elite Four."

I began to look at the rest. Typhlosion was second to lowest with a CLP of 39, Beedrill was at 42, Kabutops rated a 45, Pichu was at 46, Pidgeot had 57, Umbreon was 60, Scizor surprised me with a 68, and Dragonite came in second to the highest at 70. "Wow." I stared jaw dropped as I looked at the screen. "That is amazing."

Soon, Travis's battle was over, and he was declared the winner. I watched everyone stand and cheer as the two trainers shook hands, Travis giving his crooked smile the while time. "At this time," the announcer spoke. "Trainers 13 and 14, please make your way to the arena. The next battle will being in fifteen minutes!"

Before long Travis made his way back up to us, squeezing beside Bill and his computer as he sat down in the seat. "So, little city boy decided to get outta' bed, huh?"

"What?" Bill asked, turning to look at him almost like _'I know he didn't just say that'_.

"Just encore him Bill." I kicked back, putting my feet up on the empty seat in front of me. "It must be his time of the month. They guy has been acting like a butt head all day."

"Hey, says what ya' want." Travis said with a laugh. "All I knows is that when the time comes down to it, you're going to be in worse shape than a Meowth in a room full of rockin' chairs, and I'm gonna have me a pretty littl' ol' girl on my arm." He then looked around. "Hey, speakin' of pretty, where'd that hot girl get off to?"

"Ah, she gave me her number and then called you a creepy pervert." I laughed, putting my hands behind my head. "After that she ran away, scared that you had gingivitis from chewing all that tobacco."

"You're liein'!" Travis pointed his finger at me. "No way a sexy littl' momma like that would pick you over's me! What do women see in a littl' city boy like you anyways?"

I then looked at him out of the corner of my eye. "What do you mean, women?"

"It is plural." Bill said, still typing on the computer. "It means more than one, such as two women."

"Yes, thank you Bill, I know that." I then looked to Travis. "What I mean is why did you say women?"

"Eah…" Travis blushed as he sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest as he pulled his hat down. "Yall's city folk take's things so seriously. Just loosen up."

I raised my eyebrow at this comment, but then shook my head when he didn't say anything else. After a few minutes the announcer came back on the intercom, and both trainers stepped on their side of the fields. The battle didn't last long because trainer 13 had all fire types and trainer 14 had all rock types. Needless to say that trainer 14 won, and rather quickly too. The heat from all the fire attacks though changed the swampy kindda grassy field into a dry, burnt, dirt field. The heat evaporated the water and the rock fire combos killed the grass, leaving nothing but dirt.

"Welp, looks like I'm next." I said, standing up as the announcer gave the call for trainer 15 and 16, me, to go to the stages.

"Good, luck', slick." Travis said, sitting back down.

"I believe that Kyle will have the upper advantage in this match." Bill said.

"And what make's ya say that?"

Bill then looked at me where I stood, turning the computer around so I could see what he had brought up. On the screen was a girl with black hair, wearing a kimono, and all of her pokemon were either grass, bug, or steel. I laughed and smiled as looked at the screen.

"Hey!" Travis said, jumping up and trying to see the computer. "I wants ta' see!"

"Sorry." Bill said, shutting the lid. "It just died."

"Liar!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

I walked to the entrance of my side of the state, and there I waited. Shortly trainer 15 showed up, and as the picture on Bill's computer showed, she had short black hair and was wearing a green kimono. The pokeballs she carried were pinned on her bow that was tied around her stomach.

"Alright folks!" The announcer called out. "This is the last battle of the first round. The winner here will move on and fight trainer 14 in round two! Trainer number 15 will have the honor of going first in this round. Referee, are you ready?" The ref gave a signal with his flags as the podiums rose. Pichu ran off my shoulder, holding onto the railing as he looked off, watching our stage rise high above the charred ground. "Then let the battle begin!"

"Stelix! I chose you!" She screamed, throwing out the steel serpent as it slithered on field.

"Hmph." I smiled, remembering back to when I fought Jasmine and Ricky. I reached for the pokeball on my belt as I held it in my hand. "I'm glad I changed out before this battle." I then looked to the field. "Alright, go Typhlosion!" I threw the ball out and Typhlosion appeared. "Typhlosion!" I screamed, before she could make an attack. "Use your speed to dodge first, and attack when it's open!"

"Ty!" He nodded, looking back to the Steelix.

"Now!" The girl cried out. "Iron Tail!"

"Quick Attack!"

Steelix's tail began to glow a bright white as it swung it at Typhlosion, who dodged it with ease. The tail hit the ground, causing chunks of dirt and rock to fly into the air. Typhlosion took this chance and use Quick Attack, running up the monster's tail and heading for its face.

"Flamethrower!" I called out. I watched as Steelix tried to shake Typhlosion off, but instead it just threw him in the air, giving him a perfect shot. Typholosion opened his mouth and shot out a Flamethrower attack, which hit the Steelix dead on, causing a critical hit. The steel pokemon then fell to the ground, shaking the arena when its head hit, knocked out.

"Unbelievable!" The announcer called out as Typhlosion landed beside my stage, standing strong and proud as the girl recalled her pokemon. "In an impressive show of speed and bravery, Typhlosion used Steelix own attack against it! What an amazing show! I wonder what the next pokemon choice will be?"

I saw her grit her teeth as she grabbed her next pokeball. "Bastiodon! I chose you!" She threw out the pokeball, and in front of me stood the prehistoric dinosaur pokemon.

"What a show!" The announcer called out. "This is one of her pokemon she has yet to shown in battle! Things must really be heating up now!"

_Yeah, a rock steel type, which means fire does little damage to it, but all that armor makes it slow. I have seen her pokemon, and I must say, this was her best option at a time like this. She defiantly knows her stuff. _"Typhlosion! That thing has awesome defense, but no speed. Get behind it and attack. You should be able to dodge all its moves!"

"Good luck with that!" She screamed. "Now, Bastiodon! Secret Power!"

"Get behind it!"

I watched as the rock pokemon began to roar. It then was covered in a white light, which made it float over the ground. Pieces of rocks were also lifted off the field by the white light, and then hurtled at Typhlosion. Typhlosion side stepped most of the rocks, but was hit a couple times. He winced, but was able to run past the majority of the rocks and get behind the monster as it lowered itself back to the ground.

"Now!" I screamed. "Flare Blitz!"

I watched Typhlosion's fiery mane grow till it encompassed his entire body, he then lunged himself at Bastiodon. He hit it in the side, where the armor of the pokemon was weak. The flames covered over the steel pokemon, but it twisted its head around, head butting Typhlosion off. Typhlyosion flew back, shook off his head and then let the flames burn down from his body.

"Your close enough now!" The girl screamed. "Iron Head!" The monster began to charge, running full force at Typhlosion, which wasn't very fast. With every step it took the ground shook, and the people in the audience held on to their seats.

I waited for the beast to get closer, then I yelled out my command. "Quick Attack off the wall!" I watched Typhlosion jump to the left, evading the attack as the monster ran into the wall behind it, putting a massive crack in the concrete, and pinning it's head. Typhlosion then jumped behind it and covered himself in flames again as he plowed into the other side of Bastiodon. The monster screamed out as the flames covered him, but this time it's head was stuck in the wall. Typhlosion stood back, and rammed it again, this time knocking the beast out.

"Astonishing!" The announcer called out as she returned her second pokemon. Typhlosion leaped back over to my side of the field, panting and holding his injuries with his paws. "You saw it here folks! Trainer 16 has taken down two pokemon with his very first choice! Lets hope the defender has a plan up her sleeve, because this battle is looking very one sided!"

I heard her mumble something as she grabbed another pokeball from her bow. "Go Butterfree!"

"What is this?" The announcer called out. "The trainer has chosen a Butterfree to battle against a Typhlosion! Is there a hidden strategy here that we are not seeing?"

She smiled as she issued an attack. "Butterfree! Confusion!"

"Typhlosion! Try to dodge!"

The Butterfree took to the air, flying above the field as it locked on Typhlosion. He tried to run, but the attack hit anyway. I watched him slowdown as he ran into the wall, falling to the ground. He stood up, but then stumbled, and fell again.

"Get up!" I cried out. "Flamethrower anything that comes near you!"

"Confusion, Butterfree!"

Butterfree flapped its wings as it flew at Typhlosion. Typhlosino stood up, watching the bug and shot out a wave of fire. The flames went at Butterfree, but in his state he couldn't get a clear shot, so it missed. Butterfree then swooped in, made a few cheeping noises, and then picked Typhlosion up with a purple haze around him. It then threw him into the wall, then the dirt, knocking him out.

"The mighty Typhlosion is taken down by the bug type, Butterfree!" The announcer screamed. "If I had not seen it with my own eyes I would not have believed it! I wonder what trainer 16 will chose for his next pokemon?"

"Easy." I smiled, taking the pokeball off my belt. "Go, Pidgeot!" She fluttered and flew into the air, looking around and then back to Butterfree flying in front of her.

"It seems as if trainer 15's Pidgeot will be taking the lead now folks!"

"Yeah." I smiled. "Pidgeot! End this fast! Use Wing Attack and Quick Attack to build up speed!"

"Butterfree! Poison Powder!"

The bug then shook it's wings violently, letting out a purple powder that covered the ground under it, but Pidgeot blew it away with the flapping of her wings. She circled around, flying faster as she began to turn back to Butterfree.

"Butterfree!" The trainer called out. "Confusion!" But Pidgeot dodged, striking the bug out of the sky with a fast wing attack. As the Butterfree was falling it began to flutter again, and again it was met with another wing attack, this time knocking it out. Pidgeot flew and landed beside me, perched on my railing.

"It seems as if trainer 16 has pulled back out on top again. It is now 3 to 1, and trainer 15 is about to chose her fourth pokemon!"

She recalled her Butterfree as she looked back up to me, this time holding a new ball. "Go Forretress!" The bug twisted and spun onto the field, resting on the burnt grass as it came out of his shell. One of its cannons was pointed up in the air and at Pidgeot ,and me.

"Move!" I screamed as the Forretress let out a blast of electric power that just missed Pidgeot. She took off in the air as the beam of lighting zoomed only an inch away from me.

"SSSSWWWWWWHHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The referee blew his whistle. He then gave a signal to the announcer who soon chimed in.

"It would seem that the referee has called a foul on trainer number 14 for attempt of harming a fellow trainer. Your pokemon will be disqualified for this match and it will count as a knocked out pokemon! Please choose a replacement at this time!"

I was still white as she recalled her Forretress. _Holy crap!_ I thought to myself. _That beam was so powerful. It could have killed me. I gotta teach Pichu how to do that!_ I saw her grumble and reach for her next pokemon. "Go!"

She threw her pokeball out, and there stood a little flower. Actually, it was two red flowers on a stock of some kind. I then saw it dance, and I heard a soft beautiful song start to play.

"Bel-los-su-m. Bel. Bel-la-las-belos-belosum!" It then popped out of its peddles and a storm of leafs shot out at Pidgeot.

"Fly!" I screamed. Pidgeot flew high into the air, but the storm of leaves followed her where she flew. It began to gain on her, so she flew faster, but it was still gaining. "Fly behind it!" I screamed. Piegeot flew fast, circling behind Bellossom, getting closer with every pass. "Now! Wing Attack!" She stopped her pass, letting the leaves hit her for a brief second as she plowed into the flower pokemon. Bellossom fell over, but then stood back up as it sucked in light from the sun high above. "Another!" I screamed as Pidgeot circled back around. The Wing Attack hit Bellossom hard, making it fall over again, and this time releasing the Solar Beam attack it was building up. The attack hit Pidgeot in the wing at point blank range, causing her to spin in the air and land on the ground beside Bellosom.

"Are both pokemon out?" The announcer asked.

"Roost!" I screamed. "Use Roost, now!"

The ref was brining up both flags as Pidgeot began to stand. She folder her wings over her and began to glow a bright white, restoring her health. The ref then lowered the other trainer's flag, singling me for the point.

"I don't believe it!" The announcer called out. "This battle is getting more and more exciting by the minute! It seems as if Pidgeot will still be able to battle. But what will trainer 15 do now? It's one against five now, and trainer is down to her last pokemon. I wonder what this choice will be?"

I saw her sigh as she threw out her last pokemon. "Mega!" The Meganium called out as it stood on the field.

"Well it's a Meganium!" The announcere said. "It has to make up for lost ground!"

"Lets end this quick!" I shouted to Pidgeot. "Fly, and Wing Attack again!"

"Solar Beam!"

Pidgeot took to the sky as Meganium opened up its peddles around it's neck, taking in sunlight for the attack. Pidgeot flew down fast, closing her wings to her body to build up speed, by the time she reached Meganium the attack was done charging. It opened its mouth, and out came a massive beam of light. Pidgeot didn't try to dodge, she new she couldn't. Instead she closed her eyes, and tucked her wings back onto to her body. She held her beak out in front of her as she entered the beam of light. In a show of power and speed she cut through the attack and hit Meganium with a critical hit Fly attack to the face. Both pokemon hit the ground at the same time, knocked out.

"There you have it folks!" The announcer called out. "Player number 16 has advanced to the second round! There will be a thirty-minute break before round two. All trainers are recommended to stay and cheer for the winners!"

The stages lowered down as we recalled our pokemon. I then crossed the field, walking up to the girl as she met me half way. The field was beat up pretty bad. Rocks were everywhere, charred grass covered the dirt, and feathers, hair and other things that fell off the pokemon littered the arena. I shook off my thoughts as I walked up to the girl. I put on a smile, holding my hand out to her. "That was a great battle." I smiled.

"You only won because of that ref!" She huffed, not shaking my hand. "I bet that's how you won last year! The ref likes you or something, doesn't he?"

"What are you talking about?" I jumped back. "Your pokemon almost took off my head with that attack."

"No he didn't you lousy cheater!" She then turned away, walking away to her side of the waiting area.

"Eah." I shrugged, walking back to my side.

"Pi?" Pichu asked, running from my stage and hopping on my shoulder.

"I don't know bud." I said, looking to they sky. "Girls are strange."


	31. Painful Stories

**Chapter 30**

**Painful Stories**

The second round went about the same as the first, with the exception of a field switch. At the beginning of the match the referee hit a button and changed the now muddy and nasty grass field to a rocky boulder field.

Lance won in the first fight, advancing on to the semi final around. Number seven won over number five in the second match, and Travis won against number ten. My fight was a little challenging, however. It would have been a lot more challenging if it hadn't been for Bill though. Before the match I saw that the trainer had switched out his pokemon for mostly rock types, which would have put me at a great disadvantage if I hadn't known. But, since I did know, I was able to switch out for my Gyarados and Kabutops, which wiped the floor with him.

Travis had been acting weird all day, but as our battle grew closer and closer, he started to act more strange. Bill and I were very uncomfortable with his choice of topics.

"Yeah, I love it when they're on top." He said, insinuating crude topics. "But the best I ever had was this littl' ol' girl in Sinnoh."

_Sinnoh?_ I looked at him strangely.

"Yep. She was gooood. We dids' it right behind the pokemart, in the alley way."

"Gosh, you're disgusting." I sighed.

"Hey, but she wasn't half as pretty as that one girl I got my eye on." He then lifted up his finger and winked at me. "Blonde haired, blue eyed beauty!"

I felt my heart tug as he said this. _I don't know why, but, it reminded me of Shonna. I know that there are thousands of girls out there with blonde hair and blue eyes, but still…_

"Yep." Travis kicked back as Lance used his Dragonite to take down number seven's Rhydon. "That's the same girl that said she'd go with me if'in I win." He then smiled a sneaky smile as he looked over at me. "Go with me all the way, that is."

I didn't say anything, just shook my head.

"That's it!" The announcer called out. "The trainer number one, also known as Lance, has made it to the final match of the semifinal League Championship! Next up will be trainer number twelve, known as Travis, and trainer number sixteen, Kyle. Please, make your way to your stage at this time!"

I stood up, grabbing my bag as I began to walk. Pichu jumped on my shoulder.

"Hey!" Bill said, pulling on my jacket. "Good luck out there."

"Yeah, city boy!" Travis said wrapping his arm around me. "You're gonna need it."

"As if." I brushed him off as I walked down the row.

When we got to the end of the row he ran up to me, wrapping his arm around me again. "You know, I didn't get done telling you about my littl' lady."

I didn't respond. I was tired of hearing about it, and hoped he might drop it if ignored.

"Well, the best part of it is, she works at a daycare center."

I stopped walking as I felt my heart sink. I could feel my face turn white, almost like I had seen a ghost.

"Yep, over in Solaceon Town she worked in this daycare ran by these two old geezers. And one day, all the pokemon got sick."

"Why would I care?" I said, trying to hide how scared I was. _Shonna? Is he talking about Shonna? My Shonna?_

"Well, after they got sick we had to go on a trip, her riding her blue Rapidash, and me on my red one."

_Blue… Rapidash?_ My eyes grew wide. _There's no way… no way at all… no, its not possible._

"Yep, it was on that day that she confessed her undying love to me. We were trapped in this cave, a blizzard going on outside, the cave entrance was covered up in snow, and then it happened. She told me that if I win the pokemon league that she would go all the way with me." I felt my hand clinch in a fist as Travis took his arm off of my shoulders. He reached for his back pocket, pulling out a picture. "And right after that we got the medicine and came back to her place. This was a picture that the old man took of us." I hesitantly looked at the picture, and sure enough, there she was. Shonna, standing there, hugging Travis close and pushing her breast up on his chest. Travis's arm was wrapped around Shonna, draping down and brushing up on her the same way that he was doing to the girl that sat beside him in the stands.

My fist was clinched so tight that a vein was standing up. My teeth grinded together as Travis patted me on the back.

"Well, city boy, I'll see you on the field." He then took off, leaving me standing there.

"That little tramp… " I spoke to myself, grinding my teeth so hard that my entire face was shaking. _I gave her everything she could ever ask for. I treated her like gold! I cried my eyes out for six months with out sleep over her! She left me, left me on the docks for over twenty-four hours. And now, now she falls for the first country bumpkin that waltzes in to her town? All that idiot wants to do with her is bang her and leave her. What the heck was she thinking? We were perfect together!_

I punched my fist into a nearby door, causing the metal casing to dent around my fist. This made Pichu jump as he ran and hid in my book bag.

I grinded my teeth, huffing and puffing air through my nose. "RRAAAAA!" I screamed, pulling my fist back and punching the door again and again. "He's dead! I'll burn his freakin' face off!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

"There is only three minutes left before the match starts!" The announcer called out. "Please, contestant number 16, make your way to the stage before you are disqualified!"

"Hmm." Travis smiled as he lowered his hat. "Maybe I made him a little too mad. Still, I don't see what Shonna sees in a little city boy like him. Heck, he doesn't even look as good as I do." He then turned his head up to the audience, waving at some girls as they cheered.

"Two minutes!" The announcer called out.

"Come on!" Travis yelled. "Just give the battle to me, he's obviously not going to show!"

"Don't count on it!" I screamed, walking up the stairs to my side. I heard the crowd scream and cheer, but there was no sight of cheeriness on my face. I had my mind set on something, and I wasn't going to stop until it happened.

"In a show of truly being 'Fashionably Late' the Pokemon Master Kyle Gray has made it to his stage with only one minute and thirty seconds to spare." The announcer called out as he began to go over the rules. _I wasn't paying attention to that though. My eyes were set on Travis. _I watched him take out the picture and kiss it as he put it back in his pocket.

"Yeah, be happy while you can, Travis." I spoke under my breath. "Because they're going to have to make a new term for what I'm going to do to you. Something a lot worse than third degree burns."

"Trainer twelve, Travis, you have the first move!"

I saw him smile as he threw out his first pokeball. In a red light I saw a Fearow flutter and fly in the air.

"Oh! It's a Fearow!" The announcer said. "I wonder what pokemon the challenger will use now?"

I stared at him stone-faced as I narrowed my eye brows. _This guy is going to pay_. I thought, taking off the pokeball from my necklace. _I'll make him pay for placing even one hand on Shonna._ I threw out the pokeball, and there on the rocky field stood Arcanine. He stood strong, popping his neck and shoulders as he stretched.

"Amazing!" The announcer said. "This is Kyle's famous Arcanine! We have yet to see this pokemon in battle this year, Kyle must really be fired up for this fight!"

"Fearow!" Travis screamed. "Agility!" The bird took off and flew around in circles in the air. _It was slow, very slow. I was able to see the bird with my eyesight, so I knew that Arcanine could as well._

"What's this? The challenger isn't making a move?" The announcer asked.

"Well if you won't, then I will!" Travis screamed. "Fearow! Drill Peck!"

I saw the Fearow take up high into the sky, then turn over and go into a nosedive right at Arcanine. It began to spin and turn, causing a miniature tornado to appear at its beak. I allowed it to get closer before I called out the command. "Bite!" I screamed. With that Arcanine side stepped the bird's attack and latched down on its spinning head. The Fearow began to flap violently, trying to get free but couldn't.

"Now!" I said. "Flamethrower!" I watched as Arcanine gave the bird a little bit of fire to the face, burning some of the feathers off until it stopped moving. I felt a vein raise up on my forehead as I clinched my fist together. "I said, FLAMETHROWER!"

"Ar!" Arcanine winced, then let out his biggest Flamethrower attack he had. The flames shot out of his mouth, completely covering the Fearow as it screamed out in pain. The flames then circled around the arena, causing some of the rocks to break under the heat. The flames flew so far that they hit the stage walls, causing some of the audience to move back a few rows away from the heat. When the attack was done Arcanine dropped the burnt bird to the ground. All of the feathers were gone, leaving only a brown layer of cooked skin.

I raised my head up, looking at Travis as he recalled his Fearow, shaking as he looked at my Arcanine.

"I… Um…" The announcer said. "Well, that certainly was… a hot battle!"

I saw Travis try to calm himself as he took off a pokeball from his belt. He threw it out, letting his Feraligator on the field.

"Oh my folks, it's a Feraligator! Will this pokemon stop Kyle's Arcanine in its tracks?"

"Hydro Pump!" Travis screamed.

"Flamethrower!"

The two attacks hit at the same time. Though the effects of water would win over fire in most situations, the low level of the Feraligator did little damage as opposed to Arcanine. When the flames and water met, they erupted into a mass of steam and fog, which engulfed the center of the field, and the two pokemon.

"Flamethrower!" I called out, watching as some of the fog lit up a bright red. In the light I saw a shadow, and then heard a cry. The Feraligator was hit by the attack, crying out in pain.

"Now!" I screamed. "Extreme Speed!" In a split second the Feraligator was thrown out of the fog by the force of the attack. It flew into the wall, cracking it on impact as it struggled to stand.

"Flamethrower again!" Flames shot out of the fog, but Feraligator dodged just in time.

"Hydro Pump where the flames came from!" Travis said.

I waited for the Feraligator to open its mouth, and then yelled an attack. "Extreme Speed!"

The water geyser shot out of Feraligator, shooting straight into the fog, but from the side Arcanine appeared, ramming into Feraligator again and slamming him into another wall. This wall cracked as well, and Feraligator was then knocked out.

"Unbelievable!" The announcer called out. "Arcanine, the fire type dog has taken down both a Flying type and a Water type without taking one hit! What a show! I wonder what the next pokemon choice will be?"

"Well how 'bout this!" Travis screamed to me as he threw out another pokeball. "Fightin' fire with fire!" The ball flew into the fog. The fog began to glow a bright red as it lifted, showing his Rapidash shaking its head as its fiery mane rose up from its back. "Now!" He called out. "Fire Spin!"

Rapidash began to blow flames as it ran around Arcanine, making a ring of fire around him decrease size and got closer to him by the second. "That idiot." I scolded. The flames did reach Arcanine eventually, but had no effect on him. He stood there, in the fire, not moving or wincing as the flames grew more and more.

"What?" Travis screamed. "Flamethrower!"

Rapidash let out a stream of fire that only added to the flames. Arcanine still stood there. His claws extended in the fire, muscles tensed up, and his upper lip curled as he began to snarl.

Travis looked at my Arcanine with shock. "How's this possible?"

"Flash Fire Ability!" I screamed back to him. "With every fire attack Arcanine's power doubles." I saw his face turn to fear as I issued an attack. "Extreme Speed!" Arcanine took off fast, fire still covering his body as he struck Rapidash hard, throwing it against the wall just like he did with Feraligator.

Rapidash whinnied, shaking its head as it stood. "Fine then! Use bounce!" Rapidash rose up on its hind legs, slamming its feet on the ground as it threw itself high up in the air.

"Heat Wave!" I screamed as Rapidash started to descend. Arcanine let out a roar as he began to began to radiate heat from his body, forming a protective dome of fire in a three foot radius around him. Rapidash fell down, slamming it's hooves into the dome, but not through it. Rapidash fell off the shield, losing its balance as it fell to the ground on its side. "Now!" I called out as Arcanine bit down hard on the horse's neck. It cried out in pain as Arcanine put one paw on its head, shoving it into the dirt as he bit down harder. "Flamethrower!" Just like Fearow, Rapidash was caught in a mass of flames. It cried out in pain, kicked and struggled to get free, but then fell limp as it was knocked out. Arcanine raised his head up, backing away from the horse as Travis recalled it.

"I don't believe it!" The announcer said. "Three pokemon with just his first choice! And that Arcanine doesn't look tired in the least bit! Is there anything that can take it down?"

_It was true, Arcanine wasn't tired at all. In fact, I am sure that Arcanine could have took down every pokemon that was sent out today, but right now I can tell he's not enjoying it. He knows he is strong, but burning the pokemon within an inch of their life isn't what he wants. _I gritted my teeth as I saw Travis throw out another pokemon. "But you know what? It's what I want. That guy is going to pay."

"Oh my folks!" The announcer bellowed. "It looks like Travis as chosen his Ampharos. This mighty electric type as pulled him out of some hairy situations over the past two days, I wonder if it will be enough to take down the mighty Arcanine?"

"Thunder!" Travis yelled. The sheep began to charge up as dark clouds rolled overhead. It pulled its little arms close to its body and then thrust them outward.

"Extreme Speed!" I saw a bolt of lighting shoot from the sky as Arcanine dodged in the last second. The ground sizzled as the bolt hit a rock, shattering it.

"Again!" Travis called out, and again Ampharos used Thunder, missing. "Fine! Forget this! Use Power Gem!"

_Power Gem? Never heard of that one._ The little sheep got down on all fours, shoving its front paws into the ground and making little chunks of rocks float up around it with its built up electricity. The rocks sparked and fizzled as they turned into sharp gems that glistened in the light and shone through the dark clouds.

"AMPH!" It screamed, releasing the rocks at Arcanine.

_Crap, it's a rock type move!_ "Arcanine, Flamethower!"

Arcanine shot out a stream of fire, that melted most of the rocks, but a few were still able to get past it. The rocks hit Arcanine, causing him damage, but nothing like the damage he had dealt out to the other pokemon.

"Again!" Travis called.

Ampharos once again powered up and rocks began to float in the air. "Dig!" I screamed. As the sheep released the rocks Arcanine began to dig frantically, and in a split second, he disappeared under the rocky field.

"Astonishing!" The announcer spoke. "I have never seen a pokemon dig that fast, especially on a rock field!"

Ampharos looked around confused. The rocks had passed right over where Arcanine was, but now he was nowhere to be found. Travis and his pokemon scanned the area, but nothing was there. Not one stone moved, not one pebble fell. It was silent. After a few seconds, however, that silence was broke. Arcanine shoved his head out of the ground under Ampharos, grabbing it by the leg and dragging it down under the ground with him. The sheep called out in pain as flames shot out of both sides of the hole. When the flames died, Arcanine jumped out, holding the knocked out Ampharos in his mouth. He kneeled down, lowering the sheep to the ground as he dropped it. Ampharos was recalled shortly after.

"This has been a match for preliminary history!" The announcer called. "Very rarely do we see just one pokemon take down three, but this Arcanine has taken down four! There has only been one pokemon in the history of this region's preliminaries to take down five, I wonder if this fired up pooch can match it?"

I saw Travis reach for another pokeball and smile. I just looked at him, stone-faced, not moving from my gaze as he threw out a Sandslash. The mole creature looked around at the rocks, observing its arena as Travis made his move.

"Earthquake!"

"Jump!" I screamed.

Arcanine took off with Extreme Speed, running over to a rock as Sandslash lifted its foot and slammed it into the ground. The ground shook, and cracks started to form in all directions. Arcanine ran to the rock and jumped in the air, as the rock crumbled beneath him. Since Earthquake is a ground type move it won't affect pokemon that are off the ground.The attack was over almost as soon as it began. Arcanine landed beside the mole, huffing and blowing embers out of his nose.

"San!" The ground type jumped, surprised by the sudden appearance of Arcanine.

"Throw it in the air!" I screamed. Arcanined bit down on Sandslash's claw, picking it up by it.

"Slash!" Travis called out.

Right before Arcanine threw it, Sandslash raised up it's free hand, cutting Arcanine deep in the face and causing blood to drip on the field. Arcanine tossed his head, throwing the mole high into the sky.

"Flamethrower!" I ordered.

"Gyro Ball!" Travis commanded.

The two pokemon both released the attacks. Arcanine opened his mouth, letting out another massive Flamethrower, which shot out in great force. Sandslash pushed its claws together as it flew in the air. It concentrated, forming a ball of steel between its hands as it threw it at Arcanine. The ball twisted and turned, spinning right past the Flamethrower attack and smacking Arcanine in the side like a curve ball. The Flamethrower hit its target, knocking Sandslash out cold as it fell to the ground.

Arcanine winced from the pain of the steel ball that lodged itself in his side. He looked down, seeing blood seeping out on the rocky ground. I watched him shut his eyes, and let out a roar. Suddenly a heat wave attack came out from his body, pushing the steel ball out with it as it hit the ground. His injury healed, and he stood up strong, ready for more.

"Absolutely astonishing!" The announcer called out as Travis recalled his Sandslash. "Kyle's Arcanine has taken down five pokemon with only minimal damage! Will history be made today, having Arcanine been the first pokemon in this league to defeat all six pokemon in one go? The next pokemon choice will decide!"

"Go! Tauros!" Travis threw out his next pokeball, his last one left to fight.

"Taur!" The bull snorted, blowing air out of its nose as it scraped its hoove on the ground. Dust flew in the air behind it as it glared at Arcanine, who was huffing and taking deep breaths from his loss of energy.

"It looks like this battle will be kept on the ground!" The announcer said. "Will the mighty Arcanine be able to stand up to the rampaging power of this Tauros? Only time will tell!"

I looked down to Arcanine, huffing and puffing. _He's in pain. I know he can win. He's strong, and still has enough energy to beat that bull. _I looked up at Travis, who was gritting his teeth in anger.

"Arcanine." I said, looking down as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, still keeping Tauros in his vision. "It's up to you, bud. What will it be?" I then spun a pokeball out of my hand and up on my finger. "Come back or stay in?"

"Arf…" He snorted, blowing embers on the ground.

"Hmm." I smiled. "That's my boy." I tossed the ball in the air, swinging my arm and catching it as it fell. "Now!" I screamed. "Extreme Speed!"

"Brace yourself!" Travis commanded.

Arcanine took off like a bullet, crashing into the bull as it pushed its hooves in the ground. The ground crumbled and cracked with the impact, pushing Tauros back. "Taurr!" It called out, thrusting its horns, trying to stab Arcanine, who jumped back to avoid the attack.

"Nice Horn Attack!" Travis said. "Now, give it a toss!"

"Tau!" Tauros scraped its hoove on the ground, taking off after Arcanine.

"Dodge!" I said, and with ease, Arcanine did. The bull ran around the stadium, trying its hardest to get Arcanine, but he was just too fast for it.

"Argg…" Travis snarled. "Keep after it! Seismic Toss!"

It wasn't long before this constant dodging got old for both me and Arcanine. He looked up to me, bored and ready to end this. "Fine." I waved my hand. "Arcanine, Flare Blitz."

Arcanine put his front paws down, sliding to a stop as he turned to look at the rampaging bull. "Arrrrrr!" He roared, covering his body in a mass of flames. He took off, using Extreme Speed to ram into the bull head-on. The flames on his body exploded into an inferno when the two collided. The flames rose into the air, as well as smoke. It was impossible to see what was going on in the middle of the fire, but what I did see surprised me. As the flames died down, a form flew into the air, covered in fire. The flames left its body, and I saw that it was Arcanine. He was thrown straight up, into the sky and above the stage by Tauros's Seismic Toss. When Arcanine's flames died out around him, the ones on the ground did as well, and I could see the bull, badly burnt, standing there ready to fall.

"Now!" I screamed with all my might. "Arcanine! Now!"

As Arcanine began to slow down, and then began to free fall is when his eyes opened_. _He opened his mouth as he began to fall. Flames covered his body once again as he began to build up a Fire Blast Attack. He fell fast, and as he approached the ground he took aim. Tauros was huffing, not moving, and already out of the game.

Like a glistening light, the fire attack shot out. The flames struck down, hitting the bull and knocking it out instantly. But then the attack was quickly relocated, as Arcanine shot it straight down under him. The powerful attack struck the ground and gave him enough recoil to slow down his trajectory, making him land almost like how a spaceship would.

When the smoke settled, the announcer called out the final words. "That's it! He did it! Kyle Gray has won and will be facing off with Lance in the finals!" He yelled as the crowed cheered. "And that Arcanine has made it into the history books of Johto as being the first pokemon to solo win a semi final match! What a day! What a battle! I have never seen such amazing moves! This is a day to remember folks! This is a great day in the world of pokemon leagues!"

The podiums lowered as we both recalled our pokemon. _Even though I had already won, I smeared him into the ground, and burnt all of his pokemon, I don't know if I can control myself. That… that… pig! With my Shonna!_

We began to walk closer to one another, closing the gap between us on the field. "Well," He laughed. "Looks like I won't be getting that sweet pussy after all."

I felt my eye twitch as I reacted. My fist clinched as I slugged him right in the face, slamming him to the ground. The crowd went quiet as the ref blew the whistle. He ran up to me, holding me back as Travis began to stand again.

"Travis." The ref said. "Rules state that harming an opponent will be an automatic disqualification. I will notify the announcer that you will be advancing on in place of Mr. Gray."

Travis looked at me as he stood up, wiping blood from his nose and mouth. "Nah. Don't worry about it."

"What?" The ref said.

"You heard me." Travis spat. "He won, and I deserved it."

I looked at him shocked as he kept talking.

"Where I come from people get what they deserved, and I deserved every bit of that." He then walked up to me, and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry." He then smiled as more blood poured down his face. "Shonna never wanted to have anything to do with me. I lied, I made it all up, only to get you mad. I thought if I got you mad enough it would throw your guard off, but the truth is you are just too good." He then backed away. "I don't know what Shonna sees in you, but I know that you would fight for her 'til the very end. Like I said, she never would have anything to do with me, and trust me, I tried all the time. She said she was waiting on this pokemon master, the one she left to come and get her."

My eyes grew wide as I listened to this, but then narrowed as I began to process it. "You're lying. I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want to." He waved his hand. "But, I want you to know there is this pretty little lady waiting on you in Sinnoh." He then turned and began to walk away. "I'll see you in the funny papers, city boy."

Once Travis was out of sight the ref let me go. I took off, running into the area that Travis went into. I ran into the hallway, looking down then left, then right, but, no one was there. I took in a deep breath as I slid my back down a wall, and sat on the floor. "Shonna's not waiting on me. Why would she be waiting on me? She is the one that left me, I didn't leave her. She is the one that broke my heart, I didn't break hers. So, why?" I then looked up to the florescent lighting over the hall. "The better question is, why do I still care?"


	32. Best Two out of Three

**Chapter 31**

**Best Two out of Three**

The hour lunch break went by fast, and all of my pokemon had a very large meal, which was provided free of charge by the league. News reporters were all over me and Arcanine, taking pictures of the first "Solo Winner" as they called him. _It was strange how alike we are. I like steak, he likes steak, I hate reporters, he hates reporters. _But, with what Travis said I couldn't think about anything else during that time. _Did Shonna really still care about me? If it was true, and she did, then why would she leave me? Why wouldn't she get in contact with me? Heck, I stayed at home for almost six months. She knew where I lived; she could have called, left a message, even mailed something. But, I haven't heard from her in a year. How much could she possibly care about me?_

After the lunch I struggled to push those thoughts aside as I went to the pokecenter. The mass of trainers didn't help anything constantly asking, _"Why did you hit him?"_ and, _"What did he do?"_. _I swear, people get on my nerves so bad. I honestly feel that stupidity isn't a condition, it is an illness. If people wish to get over it they will, but until then I just want people to stay away from me. Is it that hard to see that I don't want to be bothered?_

***_-Scene Change-_***

The sun was bright as I stood on my podium. Lance was nowhere in sight, and the fifteen minute announcement just rang. I looked down, ignoring the crowds talking and constant bickering. _The stage had already changed during the one-hour break. It was now a forest field_. A dirt pokeball ring in the middle, grass on the outside barrier around it, and large trees covered the rest._ I had been lucky up until now. So far there wasn't a water field, which was what I was worried about for this battle. I need all the help I can get to beat Lance, and if it was a water field, that would render his Fissure attack useless. Now he has the advantage. A fire type with Fissure, covered by trees and foliage is an ambush waiting to happen. _

I looked up to the sky, watching the clouds float on by. "I wonder…"

"Pi?" Pichu said, jumping up on my shoulder. He tilted his head, giving me a questionable look as I looked back down.

"Nothing." I said, trying to rid my emotions. "I was just thinking of an old friend." Pichu's ear twitched as he turned his head to the other side of the arena. I looked over the rim of my glasses and saw a blurry figure, black and red, walk up to the podium. I lifted my head and with one finger pushed my glasses up on my nose. "And let the games begin."

"Thank you, ladies, gentlemen, gamblers, pokemaniacs, super nerds and all you other trainers I don't want to mention! Welcome to the final match of today!" The announcer called out. "Today, right now, we will be crowning the victor of the finals, as well as the one who will proceed to the Johto Elite Four, and have the opportunity to be crowned Pokemon Master!" The crowd roared, and it was right then that I realized the stands were almost full. _Wow, I must have been so caught up with Shonna that I didn't even notice people piling in._ "This is what you all have been waiting for. The final match between the Kanto League Champion, and the Kanto Pokemon Master of last year, Kyle gray, against the ex-member of the Johto and Kanto Elite Four, Lance, is about to begin. Many of you have been waiting all day for this, while others just arrived. Nevertheless, this match will be one for the record books, folks!" The announcer paused for drama. "For those of you who have just come in, let me recap for you. Lance, on the right side, blew right through the preliminaries yesterday using only his Charizard!" The announcer paused as the audience cheered. "While Champion Kyle Gray used only his Arcanine to take down all six of the last challenger's pokemon, here in the semi finals!" Again the announcer paused and I heard screaming and cheering coming from behind me. I turned my head, looking up at the crowd. So many people were waving, yelling, and holding up signs.

I smiled, shaking my head as I turned back to the field. "As you can see," The announcer continued. "The stage has been set at a forest stage. The rules are simple. Each player will have six pokemon to use, when one trainer knocks out the other's pokemon, they get a point. When a trainer gets six points, or when one trainer loses all their pokemon, the winner will be decided. The first pokemon choice will be made in unison, as to keep this battle as fair as possible. Trainers! Are you ready?" I looked to Lance blankly as we stared each other down. "Please choose your pokeball, now!" I kept my eyes fixed as I grabbed the pokeball from my belt. I held it in my hand as my eyes narrowed, watching him do the same, holding an ultra ball. "Trainers! Three! Two! One! Begin!"

We both threw out our pokeballs onto the forest stage. Umbreon was quick to vanish in the trees, hiding under the foliage as Lances Dragonite took to the air. "Astonishing!" The announcer called out. "We know that Dragonite well. Lance has used it to pull out of some tight places in the last few matches. But Kyle's pokemon choice was too fast for our cameras to catch. Until it shows itself we have no way of knowing what he chose!"

The crowd cheered as the Dragonite looked around the trees frantically trying to find Umbreon. "Draaa!" It called out as it began to flying down to the trees.

"Stop!" Lance yelled. Dragonite stopped in mid flight, just like its trainer commanded. "Don't go in there you fool!" He scolded. "It's a trap! If you go in there you wont have my eyes to help you!"

"Hmm…" I smiled, looking down and seeing the trees move with the slight breeze that was blowing through the stadium. _He might not know where Umbreon is, but I do. _"Now!" I called out. "Circle and use your Sand Attack!"

Dragonite and Lance watched on as dust began to form up on the ground. It slowly rose, soon covering the trees in a slight dusty cover, and then formed a dust storm over the treetops. The few people in the front row covered their eyes, coughing, trying not to look in the sandy cloud that was slowly covering the field.

"Enough!" Lance screamed. "End this! Hyper Beam!"

"Look out!" I screamed as Dragonite opened its mouth. A white light appeared in front of the dragon as it charged. The light grew as the energy ball took form. In one swoop the ball shot off, blasting through the dust and causing it to clear for a split second. I saw the trees, warp and bend under the pressure of the attack, then, once again covered in a cloud of dust. We waited as the dust settled, not making a move or a sound. When the dust did go down a section of the trees were splintered, broken, and even missing, exposing a crater where they once were. Leaves were fluttering around like confetti, but I didn't see Umbreon.

"Yes." I smiled, pointing up to the sky. "Shadow Ball and then move!"

"Shadow Ball?" Lance questioned. In the midst of trees a dark purple ball of energy shot out and into the sky. "Its his Umbreon! Look out!" But Lance was too late. The ball of energy hit Dragonite right in the back. Dragonite winced, reaching around to his back to hold his injury.

"Raaa!" It screamed, spinning around and forming another Hyper Beam. This one shot out, striking some trees on the opposite side as before. The same thing happened. The dust settled, and there was nothing there but a crater.

"Shadow Ball again!" I called out. Once again a ball of purple energy shot out from one of the two patches of trees left. The ball flew up, but Dragonite saw it. It tried to smack it away with its tail, but took damage as it did. The ball flew into the other set of trees, destroying them.

"Nowhere left to hide!" Lance laughed. "Hyper Beam!"

"Its time for our new trick, Umbreon! Do it, now!"

"Draaa!" Dragonite charged up another Hyper Beam, this one draining more energy than the previous ones. The energy ball grew large as it released it, shooting down and demolishing the remaining trees. Once the dust settled, it was just like the other times. All that was left of the once forested field was now broken logs, falling leaves, and wood splinters inside of four craters. I watched as everyone looked around.

"Where could Kyle's Pokemon be?" The announcer called out. "Is it hiding? If so, then where? How could a pokemon stand up to an attack of that magnitude?"

"I would like to know the same thing." Lance grit his teeth. "Dragonite. go check it out."

The dragon looked back to its trainer, then fluttered down to the stage floor. It walked over to the pokeball battling area, glanced around and snorted. It then looked down to its feet, kicking a tree log as it roared. "Drraaa!"

"Now!" I screamed. "Bite!"

The ground under Dragonite began to crumble it fell into a hole. Umbreon leaped out of the ground from behind it, and latched onto the back of its neck. Dragonite called out in pain as it shook and twisted its head.

"Seismic Toss!" Lance screamed. Dragonite narrowed its eyes as it took off into the sky, Umbreon still latched onto its neck.

"Last Resort!" I ordered.

The two flew into the air, high over the stadium, Umbreon still biting down and holding on. I watched his eyes glow red as his yellow stripes turned into a bright orange. Dragonite flew higher and higher, taking them both out of sight. When they came back into focus I saw Dragonite flying down at an extreme rate of speed, heading straight for the ground in a kamikaze type drop. Umbreon, however, was almost done charging his attack. Both pokemon were covered in a dark purple sphere as they passed between me and Lance. We both watched in fear as the Last Resort Attack detonated right above the ground of impact. The force sucked air in, and then blasted it back, almost knocking us off of our stands. A light shortly followed, which was blinding to look at. I covered my eyes, shielding them from what looked like the sun. When the light vanished, I heard the crowd go quiet. I opened my eyes, and when they focused I saw both Umbreon and Dragonite laying on the beat up field, knocked out.

"What a show!" The announcer called out as the crowd began to cheer again. "Turns out the stealthy Umbreon and the powerful Dragonite were both taken out at the same time. This means that both trainers will gain one point, and lose a pokemon. Trainers, throw out your next pokemon when ready!"

"I'll start this one!" Lance yelled as he picked his next pokemon. "Go Aerodactyl!" The ball flew into the air as the prehistoric pokemon appeared. The bird flapped its wings as it stayed in the air.

"Aiirrr!" It called out.

I smiled. "One for one." I then took a pokeball off my belt. Over my glasses I looked at him. "And another one." The ball flew from my hands as it hit the ground. The ball bounced and then opened up. In a red light his sword like arms appeared.

"Buuu!" Kabutops roared, spreading his arms. He then lowered his head as he placed the tips of his blades on the ground, pulling them back to him. When he did the few branches of trees that were under him began to have the bark peel back on them.

"What a selection we have here today!" The announcer said. "Two prehistoric pokemon, both of which are very valuable to collectors and historians alike! What a rare sight to see!"

"Rare indeed." Lance said under his breath. "Kyle Gray losing, that is." He then looked to the sky. "Steel Wing! Now!"

"Kabutops! Defend!"

"Buu?" Kabutops tilted his head as he looked at Aerodactyl flying down to him, wings spread wide. A smile came across Kabutop's face as he spread his arms wide as well. "Buuu-tops!"

"Oh no." I slapped my forehead with my sweaty palm.

"Pi?" Pichu tilted his head as he looked at me from my shoulder.

"Will I ever be able to break him from that?" I looked back up to the battle. Aerodactyl was flying down at Kabutops, roaring as its wings began glow. Kabutops just stood there, arms held open wide like an idiot. _This is just like the last time. He is trying to use his Aerodactyl as a meat shield. A kamikaze attack. _I then smiled. "But he doesn't know about Kabutop's condition. Kabutops!" I yelled. "Give it all you can got with that hug!"

Aerodactyl swooped down low, striking Kabutops with its wing, but instead of hitting him in the chest, its wing struck Kabutops's left sword. The friction caused Aerodactyl to wince as Kabutops wrapped his other sword around Aerodactyl's back.

"Buu!" He said with a smile as he hugged the bird tighter. His swords cut deep into the bird's back as Kabutops wrapped his other arm around it. Aerodactyl called out in pain as it took to the air, carrying Kabutops with it.

"Now!" I screamed. "Kabutops! Use Hydro Pump!"

"Hyper Beam!" Lance called out.

"Oh come on!" I screamed to him. "Does every one of your pokemon know that move?"

"What's it to you!" He screamed back. "I'll win this, and I don't care how!"

Aerodactyl flew into the air and then went into a nosedive, Kabutops still hanging on. They both began to take a deep breath, focusing their energy as they came closer to the ground. About fifty feet above the ground is when both attacks were released. Both pokemon opened their mouths, releasing the power of their stored up energy. Aerodactyl was hit hard in the face with a Hydro Pump, while Kabutops was hit in the face with a Hyper Beam. The power from the attacks was so great that both pokemon were blow away from each other. Kabutops hit the ground first, sliding into a knocked down tree as his swords drooped behind him. Aerodactyl was next, hitting the ground with a thud and bounced up from the recoil, smacking into the stadium wall. Both pokemon struggled to stand as they lifted their weary legs, stumbling to the center of the field, Kabutops using his swords as a crutch.

I looked up and saw the ref lift up the two flags he was holding, and blew a whistle. He then lowered his hands, crossing them over his chest as thrust the flags in the air again.

"Astonishing!" The announcer said. "The ref has declared both pokemon unable to continue!"

"What?" Lance screamed out. "That's a load of crap! Aerodactyl is fine! Right?"

"Ar… Ar…" Aerodactyl huffed as it struggled to flap its wings.

I didn't say anything, I just looked down to Kabutops, who was having just as much trouble as Aerodactyl. I then glanced back up to Lance who was yelling at the ref.

"Let it go!" I said, pulling up Kabutop's pokeball.

"What?" Lance said, looking at me. "I refuse!"

"If you are stupid enough to not see your Aerodactyl is done for then leave it out. I don't care." Pushing the button on my pokeball I recalled Kabutops. "But I know when enough is enough."

"Rrrr." Lance grit his teeth.

"Even though the ref has called this match a draw Lance refuses to recall his pokemon!" The crowd began to boo as the announcer spoke. "Will Kyle allow this?" I looked to the ref, smiling as I gave him a thumbs up. In return the ref gave a flag single to the announcer. "Alright. It looks as though Kyle Gray will forfeit this match, making the score two to one with Lance in the lead!"

"Boooo!" The crowd roared. "Boo! Take it out! Its over! That shouldn't count! Get a brain! Boo!" They screamed.

"Alright, so I guess its my turn." I said, grabbing the pokeball off my belt. "Come on out Scizor!"

"Sciz!" The red bug hissed as he appeared on the field.

"Finish this fast with Slash!" I screamed.

Before the announcer could even comment on my choice of pokemon, Scizor took off, flying right at the downed bird. _His speed was incredible. Nearly as soon as I issued the attack he was over there. I need to remember that for later on._ He lifted up his claw, opening it slightly to get the pointy edge exposed before slamming it down. It cut through the ancient pokemon's skin, piercing to the bone as it fell over, knocked out.

"In a show for pure speed," the announcer started. "Scizor has taken down the already weak Aerodactyl only a nanosecond after Kyle issued the order. This one will be a hard one to top."

Lance recalled his pokemon as he reached for another. He smiled, as he pulled back some of his red hair that was being blown in his face. "Come on out, Dragonite!"

"You have got to be kidding…" I said as a second Dragonite floated in front of me. _Well, I guess that does make since. Last time we fought he had a Dragonair and a Dragonite. Perhaps the Dragonair evolved. _

"Dragonite!" Lance called out. "Wing Attack!"

"X-Scissor when it's close enough!"

Dragonite flapped its wings as it flew down. Scizor, ready for the attack, crossed his arms as the dragon grew closer. Dragonite's wings began to glow as it turned sideways, lining up its wing with Scizor. Right before it hit, however, Scizor jumped out of the way, releasing the X-Scissor attack on Dragonite's face.

"Draa!" The Dragonite cried as it put its hands to its face. It then slammed into the ground, sliding on its belly before it came to a stop.

"Iron Head!" I called out.

"Flamethrower!" Lance screamed.

Scizor took off after the downed dragon in a headfirst head-butt. As Scizor's attack was about to hit, Dragonite pushed itself off the ground and flew into the air. Scizor flew right under Dragonite as it let out a Flamethrower attack.

"Sciz!" Scizor cried as he slammed his feet into the ground, sliding to a stop outside of the fire attack. He looked up, taking aim on Dragonite as he took off, flying at great speed. He tightened the muscles in his neck as he slammed his head into Dragonite's gut.

"Slam!" Lance called out. When he did Dragonite grabbed Scizor around the waste. It held him over its head as it flew down to the ground.

"X-Scissor as much as you can, Scizor!"

Scizor crossed his arms, slashing into Dragonite time and time again. Dragonite winced as it came closer to the ground, still hanging on to Scizor, but one too many X-Scissor attacks weakened its grip. Right before it plowed into the ground Scizor was able to break away. He slid on the ground, slamming his pincers into the dirt to slow him down. Dragonite, however, flew full force into the ground. Dust and smoke covered the air as the stadium shook.

Scizor turned his head and spat, standing up as green blood began to appear on his red shoulder. _He was burnt and banged up, but he still wanted to fight._ When the dust settled a crater was visible on the field. Cracks were formed on the inside of it where the knocked out Dragonite laid.

"And another one down!" The announcer said.

"Heh." I chuckled. "And another one bites the dust."

"Okay, well, how about this!" Lance screamed. "Say hello to your old friend, Kyle!" He quickly recalled the Dragonite as he threw out his fourth pokemon. The ball hit the ground, bounced and then opened. The red light formed into a large snake like form, and before it was even visible, I knew what it was.

"Gyyyaaaarrr!" The mighty Gyarados roared as it twisted its head, baring its fangs. The stadium shook as it slammed its tail on the ground, making some of the fans grip onto their seats for support.

"Lance's legendary Gyarados is not a stranger to this battle field!" The announcer called out. "This same pokemon was the downfall of many trainers that challenged the Elite Four before Lance gave up is position!"

"Scizor!" I screamed. "Watch out! That thing is like our Gyarados! It knows Flamethrower!"

"Sci…" He nodded, glancing around the arena to get a feel for the leftover scenery.

"Gyarados!" Lance called out. "Start with Ice Beam!"

_Well that's a new one._ I looked around the arena while Gyarados was charging up the attack. There wasn't much around, just some scorched trees and some fallen leaves, which left Scizor standing wide open. I quickly looked back to the battle. "Scizor! Keep dodging left!" I saw him look to the left, and then back to Gyarados. _I know what he is thinking, and he's right. I don't have a plan, but having a bluff is better than nothing. _

Gyarados's mouth was completely covered in ice when he released the attack. It shot out, heading for directly for Scizor. The only drawback was that Scizor was much faster. He dodged it with ease, heading to the left as I said. But, astonishing to me, the beam of ice didn't dissipate and vaporize on impact with the stadium wall, or the knocked over trees. Instead it covered them in a thick sheet of ice. As Gyarados kept covering the field in ice, it struck me.

"Scizor!" I screamed. "Zigzag with an Iron Head!"

On command Scizor knew exactly what I meant. He bolted over to the stadium wall opposite of Gyarados. The serpent redirected his attack, blasting it at Scizor as he dodged, launching himself over to a stump. When the Ice Beam grew closer to him still he took off to a tree truck. The ice was beginning to cover the entire field, but Lance didn't seem to notice, or care. In the final jump Scizor slammed his head into Gyarados's jaw. The water dragon's mouth was forced shut by the attack, causing the Ice Beam to shoot out of its nose, freezing the rest of its face.

As Scizor landed safely on a stump the dragon slithered backwards, slipping on the ice under it as it fell on its back. Its head hit the ground, shattering the ice as it struggled to stand upright, but again it fell.

"Iron Head!" I called out.

Scizor took off, flying at a great speed, ready to end this battle right now. As he got closer to Gyarados it opened its mouth. Out from the ice crystals that had formed on its teeth came a blast of fire that was much greater than a Flamethrower. The Fire Blast attack consumed Scizor, covering the bug type pokemon completely. I watched as Scizor emerged out of the flames, still flying, but he was soon beat down by a mighty swing of Gyarados's tail. He was hit like a baseball down onto the ice, cracking it on impact as he slid to my side of the stadium.

"What a show!" The announcer called out. "Lance pulled out on top in this battle! For some time it seemed as if he was on the ropes, but he pulled back up in the knick of time!"

"Hmm…" I said, recalling Scizor. Pushing my glasses up further on my nose I watched Gyarados blow some flames out around him, melting the ice so he could slither without falling. _Lets see. Ice on the field, with Gyarados sitting in a puddle of water._ I glanced over on my shoulder as I gave Pichu a smile. "Well, little bud."

"Pi?" I looked at me.

"Are you ready?"

"Pi! Cha!" He said as he did a fist pump motion.

"Alright." I smiled, picking him up in my arms as I spoke to him softly. "You remember our little trick?"

"Pi." He said with a grin as he nodded.

"That's my little bud." I grinned, placing him on the railing as I ruffled up his hair. "Now get out there and throw them for a loop!" With that Pichu took off down the pedestal. Landing on the field as he slid on the ice gracefully, like a figure skater.

The audience was in an uproar with this. Many women and girls were cooing while men and trainers were pulling their hats off screaming.

"Well, this certainly is… a... um…" The Announcer said, trying to pick his words wisely. "An odd choice. Very seldom do we see an un-evolved pokemon this far in the league."

"For good reason." Lance said as he threw his arm out in a command. "Ice Beam!" I began to smile as I watched the figure of Pichu, standing in the middle of the ring, begin to slightly flicker. The beam shot out at Pichu, but the mirror image was able to dodge it, moving, or rather, skating away with ease.

"Argg… Again!" Lance ordered, and again, Pichu dodged.

I tried to concentrate on the battle, making sure to look genuinely concerned. _If I don't then Lance will catch on, and then it's all over._ "Dodge!" I said. "That's right! Keep dodging!" The Ice Beams kept going around and around until Lance had enough.

"Fine!" He screamed. "If ice doesn't work, just burn the darn thing!"

Gyarados released a Fire Blast at Pichu, but it did nothing more than melt all the ice around the fake him as it dodged. Gyarados was getting angry, releasing more and more fire attacks that were only melting the ice he had formed. After a few minutes the dragon was huffing and puffing, blowing out smoke as he looked at the Pichu that was standing in the water, waving and laughing at him.

"What a plan!" The announcer called out. "It would seem that Kyle has used his Pichu as a diversion to weaken the mighty Gyarados and use up all of its attacks!"

_Not quite._ I grinned as I watched the real Pichu cling onto a falling tree under Lances podium, directly behind Gyarados. Pichu was looking at me, nodding, telling me he was ready to attack. I darted my eyes up to Lance and then back down to Pichu. Pichu then nodded again as he began to charge his attack.

"Hey Lance!" I called out with a chuckle. "I thought you said you were stronger this time around!"

"What?" He screamed back.

"Your cousin Clair was more of a challenge than you!" I watched his gaze shift from the battle as he focused directly on me. I then nodded, to Pichu, who leaped from the podium. The fake Pichu, who was in front of Gyarados, vanished. Gyarados was shocked, and didn't know what to think as the real Pichu landed on his head.

"What?" Lance screamed, looking back down to the battle, but he completely missed that Pichu had moved.

"Pi…" Pichu grinned as he began to cover himself with a bright yellow light. "CHUUUUU!" A mass of electricity shot through Gyarados, then through the puddle he was in, and from there it went all over the stadium. The electrical currents moved up the poles, sizzling the lights and the scoreboard. They flickered, but came back on as Gyarados fell to the ground, knocked out. Pichu jumped back, standing tall as his figure became a slightly transparent form once more, using his Double Team attack.

"Amazing!" The announcer called out. "That little Pichu was able to take down the mighty Gyarados with only one hit! I wonder how he will fair against the next pokemon?"

Lance smiled as he recalled his Gyarados. "I don't know how you did that Kyle, but this one you wont beat." He held the pokeball to his chest as he grinned. "Once again, you should know this one too!" The ball flew out, and in the red light unmerged another flying pokemon. I groaned as I looked to the sky, seeing something that I didn't expect.

"Draaa!" The Dragonite roared.

"Great." I groaned. _I knew that one right off. That was the one he had last year. _I glanced back up, looking at the fake Pichu begin to taunt the flying dragon. "Well, it's not over until it's over."

"Dragonite!" Lance called out. "It's a sitting duck! Hyper Beam!" I watched as Dragonite didn't move, instead it stared at the fake Pichu blankly. "Dragonite! I said Hyper Beam!" But it completely ignored his order. Instead it began to dart its eyes around the arena, scanning for something.

"Oh crap!" I screamed. "Pichu! It knows! Quick, multiply!"

"What?" Lance gasped as he looked down to the field. The one fake Pichu instantly turned into hundreds. Every foot of the field was covered in Pichus. They were running, jumping, standing, taunting and some were even standing on the walls and flying in the air.

"I have never seen anything like this!" The announcer called out. "This is spectacular! I don't know what to-" The announcer then went quiet as he spoke to someone behind him. In a short time he came back on. "It would seem that Kyle is using his Pichu's Double Team attack!"

I rolled my eyes. _Couldn't that guy just stay stupid? Nice was of announcing my attack! Idiot._

Lance then grit his teeth as he watched all the Pichu jumping all over the place. "So that's it? It was all a trick!" His cape blew in front of him as he grabbed its cloth and threw it back. "Twister the whole area!" Lance called out. "We'll get all of them with one sweep!"

In the mess I had also lost track of Pichu, but my guess is, so had Dragonite. The dragon charged up the attack as it began to flap its wings. Wind built up as a small twister began to form in front of it. Before long the twister turned into a raging tornado. The spiraling wind was intense, and I could barely stand up on my podium. I watched as one by one the Pichus began to disappear, leaving only one on the left hand side of the field.

"That's it!" Lance screamed, pointing to Pichu. "Hit it! Now!"

I watched the tornado inch its way closer to Pichu as it touched down on the field. The winds began to pick up leaves, tree limbs, and also the leftover water. My eyes opened as an idea came to me. _It was a long shot, but it's better than nothing. _"Pichu! Use your most powerful Thunder attack!"

Pichu began to charge up as the twister came closer and closer to him. The attack was growing, and taking everything with it. Sparks began to fly in all different directions from Pichu as the winds picked up. The limbs around him began to get sucked up in the tornado. Rocks were hitting him, muddy water was everywhere, but he still kept charging. When he turned a bright yellow was when he was picked up off the ground. He was twirled in the twister, thrown all over the place. Tree trunks were hitting him, rocks were smacking him, but in the middle of the storm, a ball of light formed. In an instant the tornado was covered in a bright light. Electricity bounced around everything, shooting from the sides of it, blasting into the air, and sizzling all over the place. A massive beam of light then shot out of the center of the twister, traveling up and striking Dragonite in the air. The dragon winced as the Twister attack stopped. Both pokemon fell to the ground, knocked out.

"And again both pokemon are knocked out!" The announcer called out. "That little Pichu surpassed all of our expectations! Taking down two pokemon when it finally fell! It is now two against one with Kyle in the lead!"

I looked down to the ground at Pichu. _That little guy sure is something._ I said, grabbing the last pokeball off my belt. _I guess I am like all my pokemon, in some way. Me and Pichu are both underdogs, but we never let that hold us back._ I then released the pokeball, as my Dragonite fluttered in front of me. "And you are proof of our narrow escapes." I smiled as I touched her on the nose remembering back to when she evolved. She smiled back to me as I pet on her head.

"I don't think I have ever seen so many of the same pokemon in one battle before!" The announcer said as my Dragonite flew down to the knocked out Pichu. She picked him up, and carried him back over to me, laying him in my arms. "And not just any pokemon either, the super rare breed of dragon, Dragonite! The one found naturally only in the Kanto Region! If you are a pokemon collector, this has been a battle you certainly do not want to miss!"

"So, your old Dragonite, huh?" Lance called out.

"Yeah!" I screamed as Dragonite landed on the field. "You're not getting cold feet are you?"

"Please!" Lance laughed. "You are talking to the Dragonite master! I have raised more Dragonite than any other pokemon."

"Yeah, well there is a difference between you and me." I smiled.

"And what's that?"

"You can raise and train as many as you want, that doesn't mean you do it right!"

"Hmph." Lance smiled as he pulled out his last pokeball. "Pretty big words coming from someone that is going to lose! For your information I have a few attacks up my sleeve! Some that haven't been seen in almost a century!" The ball flew onto the field as his Charizard stood. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was before. As it stood it was a whole head taller than Dragonite.

"Take to the air!" I screamed. "It's going to use Fissure!"

"Hmph." Lance chuckled. "Wrong again, Kyle! I'm going to show you something that a trainer like you would appreciate more than Fissure! Charizard! Use Overheat!"

I watched, unsure of what to make of this new attack, or old attack, _heck, I don't know what it is! I have never even heard of it!_ Dragonite took to the air as the Charizard slammed his feet into the ground. Its claws gripped the dirt, causing the ground to crumble under it. It roared, as heat began to radiate from its body. Its eyes began to glow red as it opened it's mouth.

"ZAAARRRD!" Out from its mouth came a beam of fire like none I had ever seen. The light was so bright it was blinding, and the heat was so intense I felt the hair on my hand and arms began to burn. Dragonite, in the air high above the stands, tried to avoid the attack, but wasn't successful. She was hit by the full blast of the attack, and cried out as she began to fall to the earth. The light diminished and the fire stopped when she hit the ground. The water that was once on the field was now evaporated, and all the tree stumps, logs, and leaves, were all scorched and burned. Dragonite was lying there, in the ashes, knocked out.

The audience was speechless, and so was I. For a few second not even the announcer knew what to say. I looked at the devastation that the attack left. Nothing on the field was left without a scorch somewhere on it. But, what really grabbed me, was the fact that the Charizard acted like it took damage from the attack as well. It was breathing hard, and sweating like crazy. It began to flap its wings, cooling off its body as it rested. _What kind of a fire attack would do so much damage to the user? Charizard, one of the most powerful fire types in the world is acting like it was hurt by its own fire attack! That doesn't seem right. That doesn't make sense!_

"What… An… ATTACK!" The announcer screamed out as the crowd did as well. "Never in my life have I ever seen a fire attack so destructive! The score is now five to five! Each trainer is down to their last pokemon! Folks, you don't want to miss this!"' The announcer was pulled away from the mic for a second, but then reemerged again. "Folks, my boss told me to announce our policies on damages or physical injuries that are, have been, or will be obtained during this battle, to those in attendance of this event. Since this is a voluntary act to participate or observe, you the viewer and attendee are viable for your own conductivity. We take no responsibilities for any injury or destruction of personal property. View, and participate at your own risk." There was another pause. "These rules have been posted at the ticket booth as well. Now! Back to the fight!"

"Now who's getting cold feet, Kyle?" Lance screamed.

Charizard was beginning to breath normally again when I recalled Dragonite. I grit my teeth as I pulled the pokeball off my necklace. "Alright. You wanna play? Lets play!"

I threw the pokeball out on the field. It hit the ground and out from it came Arcanine. The wind whipped through his hair as he glared at the fire dragon that was breathing hard on the other side of the ring. He snorted out embers as he scraped his foot on the ground.

"Iron Tail!" Lance called out.

"Heat Wave!" I screamed.

Charizard took off after Arcanine, flapping its wings as he built up speed. Arcanine bared his teeth as he growled. Embers sizzled from his mouth as an orb of heat resonated around him. Charizard flew right up on him. It flapped its wings, turning over in the air as it brought down its massive tail onto Arcanine's Heat Wave shield. The shield burst into flames as Arcanine reacted, jumping up and latching onto Charizard's tail. He bit down hard, twisting around and slamming the dragon on its back. After slamming Charizard in the ground Arcanine jumped into the air, sliding to a stop behind the downed dragon.

"Raaa!" He snarled as he kicked in Extreme Speed. In a flash Arcanine was over at Charizard, wrapping his teeth around its neck.

"Iron Tail!" With that Charizard's tail began to glow again. The dragon swung and struck Arcanine in the side, throwing him off of it. Arcanine did a flip in the air before turning over and landing on his paws, sliding to a stop on the other side of the arena.

"What a match!" The announcer called out. "From the first pokemon to the last, these trainers have been neck and neck, going one step forward only to fall back again! Only time will tell which one of these two power houses will be standing in the end!"

"I know which one." Lance said as he grinned.

I opened my eyes wide as I saw him raise his hand, the same way he did when he used his Charizard before. "Arcanine!" I screamed. "Jump!"

"Fissure!" Lance called out.

Charizard roared as it slammed its hands in the ground, shaking the stadium when it did. Arcanine jumped when the shock wave hit his foot. He launched himself high in the air, but Charizard hadn't released the full attack yet. I watched as Arcanine began to fall back down to earth, and Charizard grinned. Just then it pulled the ground apart, creating giant crevasse that crumbled the ground and sucked knocked over trees into it. Arcanine was falling straight down, into the gulch.

_I gotta think, I gotta think!_ I screamed to myself. "I got it! Arcanine! Flamethrower!"

I watched him build up speed as he opened his mouth. Flames began to shoot out as he aimed them down, blasting them into the open gap. I grit my teeth, but then opened my eyes wide as I saw my Arcanine fall into the chasm. The crowd went silent, and everything went calm.

"That's it!" Lance called out. "Close it up!"

"No… No!" I screamed. "Arcanine! Arcanine!"

"Chhhaaaarr!" Charizard groaned, gripping the ground as he forced the two half's back together. The earth began to move closer together. The stage was shaking, and the crowd was still silent. I wanted to look away as the gap shortened to only eight feet or so, but I knew I couldn't. I gulped, preparing for the worst. Suddenly I felt something, something… warm. Fire began to shoot out of the small gap as it closed. It was only about a foot gap in the earth when the ground began to crumble. Out from the rubble shot up Arcanine, followed by a mound of flames.

Charizard looked to the air, shocked and confused as the crowd cheered. The flames diminished as he slowed down, and began to fall. Charizard tried to conjure up another Fissure, but Arcanine hit the ground with an Extreme Speed, taking off and slamming into the dragon. Charizard was thrown back into the wall, cracking the concrete on impact.

"Again!" I screamed.

"Iron Tail!" Lance called out.

Arcanine took off once more, kicking in his speed as Charizard swung its tail. Arcanine dodged with ease as he smacked into the fire dragon again, slamming it into the adjacent wall. The dragon struggled to get up as Lance screamed out commands. But once again, and for the last time, Arcanine slammed into Charizard, knocking it out.

"And that's it!" The announcer called out as the crowd stood and cheered. "What a comeback! Kyle's Arcanine came back from the line, almost out for the count, and then pulled up for the win!"

Lance recalled his Charizard as the podiums lowered. Arcanine ran up to me, licking me on the face as I held Pichu in my arms. "Hey, boy." I said with a laugh. "You did great. Nice job!"

"Yeah…" Lance chimed in. "Nice job." He tilted his head as he spat in my direction.

"Come on, man." I said in a half laugh as I stuck my hand out to him. "Don't be like that. It was close, real close."

Lance stared at me smug as he shook his head. "Just to think, I gave up my title to get beat in the finals."

"Hey." I smiled; taking the hand I held out to him and smacking him on the back with it. "For a minute there I thought you had me."

"Hmph." He halfheartedly grinned. "Wipe the floor with them tomorrow."

"What?" I asked, laughing, not believing what I heard. _Was he really rooting for me?_

"Yeah." He turned as he began to walk away. "If you get beat out there then it'll make me look even worse."

I smiled, watching him leave as Arcanine stood beside me. "Yeah, will do." _Even though we might not get along, we still have a lot in common. It may just be something we share, but what he just did meant more to me then a simple handshake could ever do._

***_-Scene Change-_***

After the cheering fans and TV crews were out of my face I dumped my pokemon off at the center in the arena. _Turns out that the stage took so much damage that tomorrow's fights will be held in the adjacent stadium. Which is fine with me, because it is just a little bit bigger than the one I was at today. _After they were healed I headed out the door, jumping on Arcanine and making a mad dash back to the Champion Housing Grounds.

It was then that I realized just how comfy the leather couch in the living room was. I had my feet propped up on the glass coffee table, shoes off, and reclining on the couch. The TV remote was in my hand, and, like a full fledged couch potato, I was flipping through the channels.

"_Do you have a car?"_ A commercial asked.

"No." I answered before changing the channel.

"_Look here! No more grass stains!"_

"Yyyyyye-p."

I heard the door open and a bag hit the floor. Bill yawned and stretched.

"_It's the pooper scooper picker upper!"_

"I bet it is."

I heard footsteps come up behind me as I was flipping through the channels. "What are you doing?" Bill asked.

"Talking to the TV." I answered, very melancholy.

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Well," Bill walked around the couch, sitting beside me. "For one, your battle with the Elite Four is tomorrow. Shouldn't you be out training?"

"Bill, me and my pokemon have been training for two years. One day off isn't going to hurt anything. In fact, its actually healthy." I changed the channel again as I looked over at him. "I want them to be fully rested and ready to go tomorrow. I know they are going to do great, they don't need any more training."

"Well okay. You're the trainer."

"Heh," I chuckled, changing to yet another channel. "Darn right I am."

"_Do you have trouble getting up?"_

I paused for a minute, holding the remote up, but then lowering it back down to listen to the commercial. "Well, I am pretty lazy."

"_Have you fallen at least three times in the past month?"_

"Phtt!" I laughed. "I fall three times a day, you ol' fart!"

"_Do you have trouble getting to work?"_

"Work, huh?" I put a finger to my chin. "I haven't been to work in two years."

"_If you have answered yes to any of these questions, You Need To Listen Now!"_

I scooted closer in my seat. "Yes old TV man! What is it?"

"_You need a Power Chair!"_ Right then it showed this dirt old man riding around in what looked like a motorized wheel chair.

"Oh my gosh!" I said, jumping up. "Bill! I know what I want!"

"Oh please." Bill rolled his eyes.

"I can see it now!" I threw my arms up in a wiping movement. "I would never have to walk again!"

"You don't have to walk now." Bill groaned. "You have a motorcycle that goes faster than anything in existence."

"But can I take it to the bathroom?"

"Heck, I don't know. That thing is so advanced it might even have a toilet pre-installed."

I thought about this for a minute. "Really?"

"Arrg… Kyle, Kyle." Bill stood up, taking the remote away from me as he sat back down. "You need to watch something good. My guess would be that you haven't actually watched TV in over six months." He began to flip through channels as I sat back down as well. "Ah, here we go." He said with a smile.

On the screen I saw what looked like a spaceship in the void of space. It was in the distance, but then came closer and went of screen. _"Our ship… the Interceptor. Our mission; to discover new forms of life, planets and solar systems. To travel, where no man has traveled before."_ Then, in the blackness of space appeared the title. _"Star Check!"_

"What?" I threw myself back in the couch. "Come on! Star Check? That thing came out when our parents were kids."

"So, it's still good. Just give it a chance."

"Hmph." I crossed my arms as the phone rang. I sighed, standing up. "I'll get it."

"Hey, get some popcorn while you are up!"

"Yeah, yeah." I walked over to the very regal looking phone that was on the miniature lamp table. "Hello?" I asked, picking it up.

"_Kyle?"_ A familiar voice said on the other end.

"Yes? Who's calling?"

"_Yes, Kyle. This is Professor Oak. Tell me, how is the soon to be Johto Champion fairing this fine afternoon?"_

"I'm doing good." I said, turning around to watch the TV in the other room. "Just chilling in the Champion Housing with Bill."

"_So Bill is there with you. Fantastic! I didn't see him on the video feed they showed on the television today."_

"Oh, so you watched the battle?"

"_Of course I did! Everyone in Pallet and Viridian was watching your battle! It is certainly hard to believe but your popularity around here has skyrocketed since last year." _There was a slight pause before he continued. _"Speaking of which, Kyle, because of your popularity there have been several people today dropping by the lab to see your pokemon. And since there is a certain one that we don't want to be seen… well…"_

"I understand." I said, looking over at the clock hanging on the wall. "But how can I pick it up from you. There is no way I can track down there to Pallet town and come back in time for the fight tomorrow."

"_Not a problem, I have everything prepared for you."_

My eyebrows narrowed as I titled my head. "Wait, wha-?" I was cut off when the doorbell rang. "Hang on, Oak, someone is at the door." I placed the phone down on the table as I walked over to the door. Placing my hand on the knob, I opened the door. Who was standing on the porch surprised me and made me jump. "What the?"

"Chan-sey!" The big pink Chansey said as it held out a pokeball in its hands. The pokemon was wearing a white apron, and a white nurses hat. "Chan-chan-sey!"

"Umm… okay… thank you." I took the ball out of its hands.

"Chan-chan!" With that the pink pokemon jumped away, hopping down the stairs of the porch and bouncing down the road.

"Hmm…" I shut the door as I walked back in. "This ball doesn't look like any of mine." I flipped it over, inspecting it. _It was an ultra ball, but the strange thing of it was there wasn't an engraved barcode or item identification number on the back._ I picked the phone back up. "Oak, I'm back."

"_So, I assume that you received the item that I had transported to you?"_

"This ultra ball is yours?" I asked, holding it up and inspected it.

"_No. That ultra ball is yours."_

"I don't understand." I said. "I had all my pokemon transferred over to regular pokeballs."

"_You see, that ultra ball contains your… Unmentionable pokemon. Because there was a dramatic increase of visitors at the lab I had to keep that wonderful specimen contained. Since I couldn't kept it here at the lab, I swapped the old pokeball out for a new ultra ball."_ I held the ball in my head, inspecting it. _"That ball you have I personally made. There are no identifications on the item. However when you use it at the pokecenter it says that the pokeball belongs to you. Also, if you ever end up using it on one of those new kinds of poke-healers, the ones with the pictures of the pokemon, then the image will come up as a black box."_

"Nifty. But, wait." I looked at my belt, and then checked my necklace. "I still have my six pokeballs on me."

"_I also modified that ultra ball to count as number 0 on your team. So, you can actually have 7 pokemon on you at once. Number 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. It will be just like when you first caught that pokemon back at the Sea Foam Island."_

"Thanks Oak." I smiled, putting the ball in my pocket.

"Kyle!" Bill yelled out. "Come on! Get that popcorn! This is the best part!"

"I'll be there in a minute." I called out to Bill. "Thanks for everything Oak. I gotta go." With that I hung up the phone.

***_-Scene Change-_***

The show was okay, but I wouldn't give it anything more than that. Though I would have to say, for it being sixty years old it had pretty good animation, also the actors were great. But, it just wasn't my thing. Pichu finally woke up from his nap, eating almost the whole bowl of popcorn. I don't even think he watched the show. He was too busy covering his face in butter.

It was getting late, so me and Pichu headed back to our room. We both washed up, and then went to bed. "You get rested up." I said with a smile. "We're waking up early tomorrow." I yawned, falling on the bed as Pichu did the same thing. "Even though the battle doesn't start until 12, we still need to beat the crowds." I turned over, raising my hands up as I clapped them, turning the lights out. "That is so freakin' cool."


	33. Lucky Number Four

A/N: To all my fans and readers, I would just like to say, Merry Christmas!

And here is the chapter you have been waiting on for so many months! I hope you like it.

**Chapter 32**

**Lucky Number Four**

"Kyle! Kyle!" I heard a woman's voice call for me. I turned around from my toys on the grassy lawn, looking back to the house. "Kyle! Where are you?"

"Oh no." I hurriedly picked up my pokemon action figures from the ground, the ones that I had just won at my elementary school for getting an A on my math test. They were cheap little dolls, but at the time I didn't care. I just always wanted some pokemon, even if they were only toys.

I fumbled with the toys, putting them in my book bag as I ran back to the house. The porch was white, freshly painted the day before by my brother and I. I put my foot on the stairs, climbing up, and then running up to the door. I turned the knob, pushing it open as I ran inside. "Here I am, Mommy!" I put on a smile, running up to her as she stood in the kitchen, looking back at me with a frown. "Mommy, Mommy, you wont believ-" I was stopped abruptly by a hard smack to the face. I fell to the ground, looking back up to her with tears in my eyes.

"You worthless little maggot!" She screamed at me. "I just got a call from your teacher! How dare you bring pokemon into MY house!"

"But, Mommy. They're just toys!"

"And where are they?" She insisted.

I paused for a moment, knowing that if she found them she'd throw them away. "I… lost them… on the way home."

"Hmph." She snorted, picking up my bag and unzipping it. She turned the book bag upside down, letting all the contents, even the toys, fall to the floor. "Lost them, huh?" She then bent down, grabbing my hair in her fist as she picked me up off the ground. I screamed in pain, crying and yelling out, but no one heard me. She then carried me like that over to the window facing the porch, shoving my face on the glass. "You see that? The mud you left on my white porch?" I looked out the window, seeing footprints on the white porch, leading up the house.

She then pulled me away from the window, and threw me on the ground. I began to cry louder, cowering in a corner. "You will never amount to anything! You stupid child! You are worthless!" She then went into the kitchen, but came back to me shortly after. I heard her footsteps stop in front of my face. I opened my eyes to see the pokemon toys I had won fall to the ground in front of me. I reached my hand to grab them, but as soon as I did her foot came down on them, crushing them into pieces in front of me.

"Toughen up you little wussy!" She hissed at me as she walked away. "You deserved ever bit of that! You idiot."

I stayed in the floor crying, looking at the broken pieces as my older brother came up to me.

"Hey! Stupid!" He yelled at me, kicking me in the ribs. I looked up to him, and was amazed. He looked like he did when he was 18, but he is only four years older than me. I then looked down at myself, and to my astonishment I wasn't 7 anymore, heck, I wasn't even downstairs, I was in my room.

"What, are you retarded too?" He screamed at me as he kicked me again. "I'm talking to you!"

"What?" I asked, standing up as I grit my teeth. "What is it, Brandon?"

"I like that shirt." He said with a grinning smile. "I want it. Take it off."

"What?" I jumped back, looking down at my shirt. It was grey and blue-stripped button up shirt, one that I had just bought the day before. "No, you pompous dickhead, go get your own!"

"Listen you scumbag!" He screamed at me. "Give me that shirt, now!"

"Or what?" I asked with a cocky smile. I had been in many fights with him before, pretty much everyday, so I knew how we fought and I knew how to win. I turned my body sideways, giving him less of a target, and me more of an area to dodge and attack.

"Or this!" He screamed, throwing a punch at me, which I dodged. I then grabbed his wrist, and punched him in the gut with everything I had, but, it didn't do anything. It was almost like I was punching a pillow. He threw another punch, so I dodged and tried to punch him in the face. But, once again, I didn't do anything. I felt my arms start to become confined, I couldn't move. I tried my hardest, but I couldn't even walk.

"I'll show you who's the boss around here!" Brandon said, picking me up over is head as he walked over to the window in my second story room. "Now next time I want your clothes you better give them to me!" With that he threw me through the window. Shattered glass was everywhere, falling with me as I grew closer to the ground, head first. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact-

"CHUUUUUU!"

"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed, rolling out of bed as I hit the floor hard. I jumped up, ready to throw another punch, but instead of being at my house I was in my room at the Johto Pokemon League. I sighed, taking a deep breath as I sat back down on the master bed.

"Pi?" Pichu ran up to me, climbing on my shoulder as I smiled.

"Thanks, bud." I said, putting my hand behind my head. "I don't know how you woke me up, bu-" I stopped as I felt my hair. I then stood up, walking over to the vanity mirror in the room. "Oh, you got to be kidding me." In the mirror I saw that every hair on my head was standing up, and sparks were shooting between them like in one of those old evil scientist movies.

"Bwahaha!" I laughed, looking in the mirror. "Wow! You really did a number on me didn't you Pichu?"

***_-Scene Change-_***

I shoved my feet into my black shoes, grabbing the laces as I pulled them up tight, tying them in a knot. My frayed blue jeans fell around them as I stood, pushing my glasses further up on my nose. Pichu ran from the nightstand, jumping over to the vanity in the room, and then leaped on my shoulder. I was wearing my old green jacket, the one that I started my journey with back in Kanto, the one that I ran away from home in. Under that was my newer black button up shirt that I bought not too long before that incident with Ricky in Mount Silver. I closed my eyes and trembled as I thought of his dying face, crying out in pain as he was crushed under those rocks. _"I swear!"_ His words echoed in my head. _"I'll make you pay! You will pay!"_

"No." I said, shaking my head as I opened my eyes back up. "No. Not now. You will not haunt me now." My eyes darted over to the vanity sitting adjacent to the bed. On it was my regular belt and the one I drape around my waist with my pokeballs on it. I grabbed the latter, buckling it and let it hang loosely around me, the pokeballs facing my right side. I then walked over to the nightstand, taking a deep breath as I reached for the pokeball necklace that was laying on top of yesterdays newspaper. "Well ol' pal." I said as I slipped the necklace on. "Another day, another battle."

***_-Scene Change-_***

We walked downstairs, glancing into the living room when we hit the bottom step. Bill was sitting in the recliner, and had his laptop connected to the plasma screen TV, he was watching episodes of Star Check.

"Hmph." I grinned as I walked up behind him. _This is going to be good._ "Hey Bill!" I said, making him jump as he turned around.

"Oh, hey Kyle." He then turned back to the show, watching it with his eyes glued.

"Ah, I remember this one." I lied.

"What?" Bill jumped. "You saw this one?"

"Oh yeah." I nodded, still lying through my teeth. "I saw it on TV. One of those, "Best Moments" or something."

"Really? That's strange, they said this was only shown on the collector's edition box set."

"So have you seen this one?"

"No!" He said excited. "But don't tell me!"

"Ahh, so I can't tell you that Johnny Boy dies."

"WHAT!" Bill jumped up. "No way!"

"Oh yeah." I nodded. "They said it was the most brutal episode ever. So bloody that they couldn't show it on TV."

"Oh man!" He spun back around as he planted himself back in his seat. "Oh man! This is going to be good! Johnny Boy is goi… Wait a minute!" He then jumped back up. "There's no Johnny Boy in this show!"

"Oh Bill!" I laughed as I slapped him on the back. "You need to loosen up. Oh yeah, the reason I needed to see you was to find out what kind of pokemon the Elite Four has."

"You mean you haven't checked yet?" he asked as he ran to his computer, turning off the episode as he opened up the Internet. "It's only two hours away and you haven't even looked up their types?"

"Well, that's why I have you." I said with a smile as I sat down on the couch, watching the TV display his computer monitor as he surfed the web.

"Well, I'm not going to be here forever Kyle. You need to learn how to look this stuff up yourself."

"Oh come on." I laughed. "If I know you, you have the PC set up to do updates on itself. Heck, I bet that system is self-efficient. I bet you don't even need to do updates on it." I leaned forward, watching the screen. "Why don't you go to Hoenn with me after this?"

"Hoenn?" He looked at me blankly. "Are you serious?"

"Of course!" I said. "Its not like there is anything else for me to do here."

"Oh, Kyle." He shook his head. "You are right. I have the PC System set up to do automatic updates and system settings for two months, but that time has already ran out. For two months I have been tailing you all over Johto." He went silent for a while. "Kyle, you're my best friend. I would do anything for you, but I have work to do. As of now I am backed up to my neck with papers to file and information to program in. There is no way I could even think about proceeding with you to the Hoenn region."

"But, Bill, I-"

"I can't!" He scolded, looking at me. "I'm sorry, but I cant." We both were quiet for a while until he brought up the pokemon of the Elite Four on the screen. "Alright, first challenger is Will, the one who replaced Lance." The screen brought up a picture of this very feminine looking man with purple hair, a black mask, and a purple casino jump suit. "His types are all Psychic with Flying, Water, Ice and Grass as a second powers."

"So, it looks like Umbreon is a good match up there."

"I would think so." Bill then went on to another image, this one, was all too familiar to me. "This is Koga, Ex-Member of the notorious Team Rocket, and former leader of the Poison Gym of the Kanto Region. His battling types are-"

"All Poison with Bug and Flying." I cut in. "Best to use a Fire type"

"Wow, nice job." Bill then went on down the list, to yet another face I knew.

"Bruno." I said. "All Fighting with a monster of an Onix as a back up. Strongest pokemon is a Machamp, but he is really slow. Best to use Pidgeot and Gyarados."

"Man. You got this down."

"Helps that I have already fought him before." I smiled. "What's the last one?"

"The last one is…" he clicked on another link, bringing up this image of a younger looking girl, in her twenties or so, with long light blue hair and a yellow tank top. "This is Karen. She is Agatha's granddaughter as well as her replacement."

"What happened to Agatha?" I asked. "Did she retire?"

"Well…" Bill paused as he read. "It doesn't say on here, but I heard she passed on."

"Man, that's sad."

"Cycle of life I suppose. Anyway, this one might be a little more difficult."

"How so?" I asked.

"Well, I guess it would be easier for you to see." Bill clicked another link, bringing up a list of pokemon. "These are the pokemon that make up her team."

"Hmm…" I examined the pictures. "Umbreon, Gengar, Houndoom, Murkrow, and Vileplume. That's so strange. A Dark, Ghost, Fire, Flying, and Grass?"

"They are all dark as their second type." Bill said. "With the exception of Gengar, which was Agatha's powerhouse."

"You mean it's the same one?"

"Yep."

"Crap… But, that does make sense I suppose. After all, I guess a ghost cant die."

With that Bill closed the lid on his computer. "Well, we better get going if we want to make it there before the crowds.

"I think it's too late for that." I said with a smile as I stood up. I walked past him, making my way to the window as I pulled back the curtain.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because we already have a news crew outside the house."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The streets leading to the stadium were so packed that we ended up not even taking them. Lines of people were piled around everywhere, and not to mention TV crews, but from several hundred feet above the ground it was hard to tell them apart.

"Is it acceptable to fly into the arena instead of entering the front gate?" Bill screamed to me as he held onto my shoulders. Dragonite was flying nice and slow, making sure not to startle him, but I didn't think it was helping anything. _Bill has always seemed to be scared of riding on anything that didn't have a seat belt or an air bag. _

"I don't see why it wouldn't be!" I screamed back to him. "After all, there's nothing like making a grand entrance, right?"

"Piii!" Pichu screamed, as he held on tight to my hair.

"Ahh!" I whined. "Pichu! Stop! You're pulling my hair out!" I then turned my head back to Bill. "Hey Bill, unzip my book bag and put Pichu in it!"

"Okay!" I felt him move one hand off my shoulder and unzip the bag. Then I felt Pichu's little paws release my hair as the bag zipped back up.

"Thanks Bill. And Pichu! Don't worry! I'll let you out when we get there!"

"Piii!" I heard a muffled Pichu say from my back.

"Why did you bring your book bag with you today, Kyle?"

"I don't know." I said as Dragonite began to turn sidewise, heading down into a nosedive. "Something told me that I needed it today! Hold on!"

"Ohhh Crraaaappp!" Bill screamed, holding on tight. Dragonite tucked in her wings, making us accelerate faster. We were going straight down, heading for the open roof stadium that everyone was pouring into. From above I could see the field come into view. _It was rocky, with some hills and grass. Almost like a mixed field._ But then something else caught my eye. On the sides of the open roof I noticed a gridded structure that was folded in. _Does the roof on this stadium close making it sealed off? I guess that would make sense. After all, what would they do in the rain or snow? They would need to close it._

Bill stopped screaming when Dragonite opened her wings. She slowed down, going back in a vertical stance as she fluttered over to Bill's seat that we had bought the previous day. There were already audience members there, and they all went quiet as Dragonite came closer.

Dragonite stopped right above Bill's seat, letting him climb off. When I knew he was in his seat I gave Dragonite a pat on the head. "Thanks." I said with a smile. "I'll probably be needing your help today, girl." With that I touched the pokeball to her back, making her vanish inside as I fell through the transparent red light. I landed in my seat, with one foot on the flat part of the seat and the other resting on the backrest.

The audience then stood and started cheering as I heard the announcer call out over the speakers. "It would appear that the Kanto Champion, and challenger for today, Kyle Gray has just made his entrance. And what an entrance it was!" I turned around, still standing in the seat. When I looked over my shoulder I saw that this stadium was much larger than the one I was at yesterday. It was laid out in the same way though, that is with the seats anyway. But the thing that really caught my attention was the four massive plasma screen TV's that they had hovering over the field in a square formation.

"Wow." I said, looking at the TV as it zoomed in on my face. "That's cool."

"Yeah, you're on TV." Bill said. "One would think that you would have grown accustomed to that by this time."

"No." I shook my head as I looked down to Bill. "I mean the hovering TV's. I wonder how they do that?"

"It is very simple, actually." Bill said, holding up a finger as he spoke. "The league has specially trained Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam that uses their telekinesis powers to hold up large objects. By doing this they can also predict attacks and move the televisions out of harms way so the League doesn't suffer from any lost technology expenses."

"And what a special treat this is!" The announcer called out. I turned my head to look at the TV zoom in close on Bill. "Not only do we have the famous Pokemon Master from Kanto with us today, but we also have an even bigger celebrity! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the world famous, Bill!"

"What?" Bill jumped as he looked at the screen.

"What?" I laughed. "After all, _I figured you would be used to this by now."_ I said in a mocking voice as I laughed.

"Yeah, well laugh it up." He said as he stood from his seat. "Would you like to be escorted to the pokemon center? I could be of some assistance."

"Yeah…" I laughed as I walked in front of him. "If I ever get attacked by some nerdy girl that turns out to be a computer virus I'll let you know."

"The nerds are not the ones you need to watch out for." Bill said as he darted his eyes. "It's those crazy anime ones… Those people are more like test subjects instead of humans."

"Alright, then I changed my mind. If I ever get attacked by an icon of an anime girl that ends up being a virus then you'll be the first one to know." Bill then went quiet. Oddly quiet.

We walked out of the seating area and down the hall, the whole time walking and shoving our way past, ignoring everyone. The pokemon center was packed, but it was better to heal my pokemon now rather than later. _Lord, it might just take me an hour to get through the line!_

Luckily, all the people in there were not healing their pokemon, instead they were just there to try to get a glimpse of me before I made my way to the field. Shoving my way past I was able to get in and out of there rather quickly, but it still took up about thirty minutes just getting back to my seat. When I sat back down I looked over at Bill, who was still being very quiet.

"Bill? You okay?"

"That would be sooo hot!"

I jumped a little, confused. "What?" I looked to where he was staring, but there wasn't anything over there, just some concession stands. I looked back to him. _Do I really want to know what he is thinking about?_

"A virus!" He said. "That infects your computer with pictures of anime girls!"

"Oh my gosh!" I screamed at him as I slapped my self on the forehead. "I can't believe you are still thinking about that! You know I was kidding, right?" I then paused. "Wait, that wasn't what I said anyway."

"Yes, but I improved on what you said." He smiled.

I shook my head. "Bill, you need to go on a date."

"I have been on a date!"

"I mean a real date! Not some stupid cyber chat."

"What's wrong with that?" He said defensively.

I just shook my head. "Nothing Bill, nothing at all. I'm just saying, I gave you a girl's number yesterday, I think you should at least give her a shot." Suddenly a trumpet sounded over the speakers of the stadium as music began to play.

"It is now 12-o-clock!" The announcer called out. "For the past three days trainers from all over the Johto, Kanto, Hoenn and even Sinnoh have been gathering together and battling for the coveted title and trophy of the Johto League Championship, and the opportunity to be claimed Pokemon Master!" The crowd cheered when the announcer paused. "There were many contestants this year, but one has stood out above them all. One trainer among hundreds has passed all the obstacles that has been placed in front of him, and only this one will be given the chance at the title of Pokemon Champion of the Johto League!" Once again, the crowd cheered. "The battle that will be taking place today has been highly anticipated since his victory last year at the Kanto League. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, Pokemon Master of the Kanto League, live and in person, Kyle Gray!" I watched as the camera zoomed in on me from my seat in the stands. The crowd cheered, roared, and yelled from all discretions. "Kyle Gray, please make your way to the stage at this time!"

"Hmph." I smiled as my book bag began to bounce around on my back. I laughed a little as I took off one strap, swinging it around and unzipping the pocket that held Pichu. "Did you think I would forget about you, litl' bud?"

"Pi-cha!" Pichu smiled as he jumped out of my back and right up on my shoulder. "Pi, Chu!" He called out, pointing to the stage.

"That's right bud." I stood up from my seat, walking over to the railing as I put one foot on the bar, overlooking the stage. "It's our time to shine." With that I grabbed a pokeball off my belt, releasing Dragonite as Pichu and I rode on her back to the podium.

"Show off." I heard Bill huff as I took off.

"Pi?" I heard as I saw Pichu look back to Bill, and then up to me. "Pi? Pi-chu?"

"Oh, its nothing." I said with a smile. "Bill was just wishing us luck." I lied.

"Pi-CHA!"

Dragonite flew us to our side of the podium, where once again I thanked her and fell through her transparency as I recalled her. I landed on the stage with Pichu on my shoulder, knelling down to cushion the fall. The crowd cheered as I slowly began to rise up. My eyes were closed, and in the darkness of my eyelids I could see the sun shining through, making a somber red color. I took a deep breath, and then narrowed my eyebrows as I opened my eyes. _This is it. This is what I have fought for. They said it couldn't be done, but I did it. Six months later, here I am. At the Elite Four, battling my way for the trophy. But…_ I looked down as my mind wondered back to the thought of Shonna leaving, sailing away from those docks one year ago. "No." I said, shaking my head. "No! I wont let that distract me! She left me! She's gone!"

"Heewww, having lill' love problem, honey?"

_What was that?_ I looked up to see the same guy from the picture before, Will. He was walking up the stage on his podium, opposite mine. His purple hair blew in the wind as slowly adjusted his black Zorro looking mask on his face. "Because, honey, she doesn't know what she's missin'."

"Eahh…" I gave a grossed out look. _Is this guy really a member of the Elite Four?_

Soon enough, my question was answered when the announcer spoke. "And there he is! Please welcome the newest member of the legendary Elite Four trainers, Will." Will then took a bow as he threw out a red rose to one of the swooning girls in the stand.

"Ohhhh!" They all cooed.

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes.

"Pi…"

"Though this member is new to this elite group, I would like to say that he passed all the qualification test with flying colors! Ladies and gentlemen, the stage has been set, and in just a few moments I will announce the rules!"

I stood there, over looking the field as the announcer went quiet. Over the speakers I heard a trumpet sound, then a band, playing an old orchestra song that is played at the beginning of every league competition that I have ever seen. The crowd stood, but my eyes were focused on one thing, the trainer that stood in front of me.

When the song died down the announcer spoke again. "In this league challenge the Elite Four members are only allowed to use five pokemon. The challenging opponent, however, may use up to six."

"Hmph. That's different." I smiled.

"The members of the Elite Four may not switch their pokemon until they are unable to battle. The challenger may switch at any time. Each field that the challenger will be battling on has been chosen by the member he will be facing for that round. If the challenger is able to surpass every member of the Elite Four then he will be crowned the Johto Pokemon Champion." The crowd roared as a referee came onto the field. He walked over to the left hand side of the field, stood on a small stage and was then raised high up above. He then raised up his flags, one gold, one silver, and gave a signal. "Okay folks! This is the time we were all waiting for. The match between Kyle Gray and the Johto Elite Four will begin…. NOW!" The ref then blew a whistle as both Will and I reached for our pokeball.

"I suppose I should make the first move." Will winked as he spun his pokeball on his finger. He then gave it a small toss as it opened up, releasing a Xatu on the field.

"Piiiii?" Pichu tilted his head, as did I, as we looking over the railing at the funky looking bird.

"Well, you don't see one of those very often. A Johto special I think." I scratched my head as I put back the pokeball I had in my hand.

"Pi! Picha!" Pichu said, looking at me as he pumped his little arms.

"No." I said to him as I thought. "I know what you're thinking, and your electricity would be good against a bird, but I don't know what all it knows." I then smiled as I patted him on the head. "Don't worry, you'll get your turn." I then looked back up as I grabbed another pokeball from my belt. "I know I shouldn't use him now, but when you're in a pinch you play your trump." I threw the ball out, and in a red light stood my glimmer of hope in this battle.

"Breeeee!" Umbreon roared.

"It would seem that Kyle is going with his Umbreon for this battle. It would appear that he is going for the type advantage against Will."

"You are so predictable, honey." Will said with a wink.

I got a cold chill up my spine as I winced. _Eww…._

"Xatu! Use your Silver Wind!"

_Silver Wind? _"Umbreon! Look out! That's a bug type move!"

I saw Umbreon's ear twitch as Xatu began to flap its wings. It flapped them faster and faster as a silver mist began to cover over its body.

_What am I going to do?_

"TUUUU!" The bird screamed as it took off, flying at Umbreon with silver dust flowing closely behind.

"Sand Attack!" I screamed.

Umbreon ran around in circles, creating a small mini gust attack full of sand. Xatu flew right into it, stopping its attack as the sand began to collect the silver pollen, sending it right back at Xatu. Umbreon jumped to the side, evading the dust as Xatu frantically tried to get the dust and powder out of its eyes.

"Now! Shadow Ball!"

"Ummmm!" Umbreon opened his mouth wide, forming a black orb. The yellow marks on his body began to glow. Xatu opened its eyes just as the attack was being released.

"Night Shade!"

"Xaa!" Xatu's eyes began to turned bright red, and just a few inches in front of its face, the Shadow Ball attack stopped. A dark mist began to emanate from the birds body, encompassing Umbreon's attack.

"Dodge Left!" I screamed. And just in the knick of time Umbreon jumped out of the way. I couldn't tell what was going on, because of the black mist that covered over the small portion of the field. But when the smoke like substance lifted I saw the rock behind Umbreon had shattered. The only thing that was left was a singed black crater, which looked just like an impact from a Shadow Ball.

"What a start off!" The announcer called out. "Xatu took some damage from the clever thinking of Kyle Gray, using a Sand Attack to temporarily blind the bird pokemon. But then it came back with Night Shade, sending Umreon's own attack back at it! What a great opening!"

"Not good." I said gritting my teeth.

"Pi?" Pichu looked up at me.

"Distance attacks are no good, bud. That attack can turn it all around."

Will and I both stood, looking out on the field at our pokemon, neither one making a move. _There has to be a way around that. That thing seemed to be effected by the sand in its eyes, so it relies on its vision, maybe?_

"Enough waiting, darling!" Will screamed. "Xatu! Wing Attack!"

"Umbreon!" I screamed as the bird took off after him. "Take a dive!"

Xatu built up speed as its wings began to glow a bright white. Umbreon stood strong, leaning his front half down close to the ground, ready to pounce. When Xatu flew by, however, Umbreon slid on the ground, rolling over and letting Xatu fly over him. He then used his rear legs to kick Xatu in the stomach, making the bird fly beak first into the dirt. Dirt flew into the air around the bird, as well as it its eyes.

Umbreon rolled back over, jumping to his feet.

"Bite!" I screamed. With that Umbreon ran over to the downed bird, grabbing its head in his mouth. Xatu squirmed, but Umbreon kept it at bay with a paw on its chest. "Now! Shadow Ball!"

"Broon!" A dark orb covered over the two pokemon as Umbreon's yellow rings began to glow. Soon the orb vanished, and in the mist of the darkness stood Umbreon, with one paw still on top of Xatu.

"Astonishing!" The announcer called out as Will recalled Xatu. "Kyle was able to beat the flying psychic ability of Xatu with some quick last second planning."

"Well, Sugar, this next one will give you cold chills." Will said as he kissed one of his pokeballs. "Come on out, Jynx!"

"And yet another pokemon you don't see everyday."

"It looks like the next pokemon up to bat is Will's Jynx!" The announcer spoke. "This pokemon has a cold personality, despite its very appealing appearance!"

_Appearance? Yuck! _With that, I stuck out my tongue.

"Jynx!" Will called out as he blew a kiss to her. "Use your Lovely Kiss!"

"Umbreon! Close your eyes! Feel out its attacks!" Umbreon closed his eyes, taking a fighting stance. _If he doesn't see her blow a kiss it wont have an effect._

Jynx put a hand to her lips, pushing them together as I saw Will grin. "Now!" he called out. With that Jynx pulled her hand away, forcing out, not a kiss, but a Hyper Beam attack!

_Oh crap! _"Umbreon!" I watched as his ears shot up, he then jumped to the left, but not quick enough. The Hyper Beam hit his back leg, making him swing around and slam into the wall.

"Oh, ho, ho!" Will giggled. "Looks like your Umbreon is falling head over heels!"

"Pi-cha!" Pichu called out to Umbreon in worry.

"Umbreon!" I screamed. "Forget what I said, use your eyes!"

"Now, my beautiful Jynx! Use your Blizzard!"

"Umbreon! Last Resort!"

"Jyynnnxxx!" It yelled as she began to cross her arms. Ice crystals formed around her, and then small pieces of snow fell.

"Ummm!" Umbreon roared, making a purple sphere form around him.

The blizzard attack released, freezing the grass blades in the path. The snow and ice shards struck Umbreon's purple sphere, chipping away at it as it slowly pushed him back. He dug his claws into the ground beneath him, trying to maximize the traction to stop him from sliding. The attack was brutal, freezing everything around Umbreon as it began to crack and chip his shield.

"Breee-ON!" In a last ditch effort Umbreon jumped in the air and lowered his shield, concentrating what was left of his attack into an orb. He released it into the attack, shooting it at Jynx. Jynx looked up, moving the blizzard attack straight up to Umbreon as the dark orb curved around the snow, striking Jynx. Umbreon was hit with the Blizzard, freezing his back legs in the air as the Last resort attack struck its mark. Jynx was covered in a purple light as it screamed out in pain.

"Jy-nx!" It screamed as it fell over, unconscious.

Umbreon fell from the sky, striking the ground, knocked out as well.

"We have just witnessed the first one of the challenger's pokemon being knocked out." The announcer announced. "As of now the challenger has 5 pokemon left, while Will has 3. This battle seems to be one sided, but can Will turn the tables on the previous pokemon master?"

"Oh, you better believe I can turn this around!" Will spun on his toes as he grabbed another pokeball. "Go! Xatu!"

"Eah…" I groaned as I saw the bird on the field. "I swear, does everyone this year have more than one of the same pokemon?" I then began to think. _Those things use their eyes far too much. Also, since Umbreon is out of the picture, and, since it is a bird…_ I looked over to Pichu. "Bud, looks like I'm going to need your help again."

"Pi?"

I smiled. "Do your little trick. Get that thing to knock itself out."

"Pi-cha-chu?"

"I don't care." I laughed. "Just have some fun, and don't get seen."

"Pichu!" Pichu jumped from my shoulder, running down the rail as it entered the battlefield.

"It would seem that Pichu is Kyle's next choice." The announcer said. "I wonder what Kyle has in store for us now?"

"Sending a mouse against a bird?" Will said. "What a lovely tactic. Trying to sway me by using your little advantage trick!" Will yelled out to me.

_Huh?_

"Honey! You use that trick far too much! Xatu! Sense it out!"

"Well crap." I looked down to the field, seeing the real Pichu standing in the middle of the field, not using his double team attack. _Hey, that gives me an idea._ I smiled as I yelled out to Will. "Well! It looks like you found me out! I guess that fake Pichu doesn't fool you!"

"Pi?" Pichu turned his head, looking back up to me confused.

I looked down to him, giving him a wink as I grinned. He then grinned back, nodding his head as he looked to Xatu.

"Well, Pichu! I guess it isn't working!" I yelled. "Come on out!" When I said that Pichu used Double Team, making a fake Pichu run out from behind my stage. The fake ran in front of the bordering wall, sticking its hands in the air, "Pichu!" it yelled.

"Ha!" Will screamed. "There it is! After it Xatu!"

"Axxx!" the bird called out, spreading its wings as it flew after the rodent. The fake Pichu stood still, and when Xatu got close enough, it leaped, souring into the air, making Xatu fly beak first into the wall behind it.

"Ax! Ax!" It whined as it shook its head.

"Now!" I said. "Thunder Bolt!"

In an instant the real Pichu made a quick dash over to the fake one, taking its place as it released a massive Thunder Bolt attack into Xatu. The bird wince, and then fell over, knocked out. Before it hit the ground, the real Pichu was back over to where he was before, leaving the fake there, standing on Xatu.

"As we have seen before, this Pichu may be small, but it packs a Biii-i-igg shock!" The announcer said, drawing out the 'big' part.

"Well, it looks as if I am down to my last two balls." Will said, holding two pokeballs in his hand as he smiled.

I felt my stomach turn as I stuck out my tongue. _Oh my gosh, I'm going to be happy when this battle is over with. _

"Go!" Will through out one of the balls, making it hit the ground and releasing a Slowbro.

"Slowbro, darling, start off with your Foresight."

"Slow…" Slowbro said as his eyes began to glow purple.

"Pichu! Double Team isn't going to work any more!"

"Pi?" He looked at me confused as the fake Pichu vanished.

"Ahh! I see." Will said. "You did end up tricking me anyway, making your fake Pichu look like the real one. No mater. Slowbro, use Future Sight."

"Pichu! Be on the look out! That attack can hit at anytime!"

"Pi!" Pichu took a fighting stance as he looked around the arena. I saw him look over to some of the nearby boulders that were on the rocky grass field.

_I got it!_ I snapped my finger. "Pichu! Quick Attack off the rocks!"

"Pi! Chu!" With that Pichu took off in a streak of yellow, bouncing off the rocks around Slowbro like a pinball machine would.

"Slow…" Slowbro glanced, looking around as his purple eyes faded back to its regular white. Pichu was fast, too fast for the slow pokemon to keep up with, and before long, it became confused. "Slow-ow-ow!" It spun its head around.

"Slowbro!" Will called out. "Use your Mega Punch!"

Slowbro then shook his head and closed his eyes. I saw his hand turn into a fist as it began to glow white. "Slooow!" It yelled, swinging is fist around after the yellow blur, but in its confused state, it swung its hand around, striking itself in the face.

"Whoa!" I laughed. "I've never seen that before."

"Slooowww!" Slowbro said, stumbling as it began to use the attack again, and, like before, it attacked itself.

"Oh no!" Will gasped as his Slowbro fell over, knocked out by its own attacks.

"It looks like Slowbro is down for the count!" The announcer called out as the audience roared. "In a show of speed and quick thinking over slow thought, Pichu and Kyle were able to win the battle without landing one attack! Lets hope that Will's next pokemon can make up for its lost team mates!"

"My next one will send you away crawling!" Will laughed. "Come on out, Exeggutor!" He threw the pokeball out. It hit the ground, and then opened, showing the giant egg-plant tree standing amongst the Quick Attacking Pichu.

"Now!" I screamed. When I did Pichu leaped off the boulder behind Exeggutor, landing right on its back. The eggs at the base of the leaves looked down at Pichu as he grinned.

"Chuuuuu!" Pichu released a massive volt tackle attack, shocking plant and making it scream, but doing little damage.

"It doesn't matter how big it is," Will commented. "An attack like that won't hurt my Exeggutor!"

I was about to issue another attack, but from behind Will, I saw the few clouds that had blown over, began to separate. _Well that was weird._ In the sky I saw a small purple dot, which seemed to get bigger. "Oh no…" I spoke under my breath when I realized what it was. "Pichu!" I screamed. "Pichu! Behind-" But it was too late. By the time I was able to warn Pichu about the Future Sight attack it had already hit. The attack came in a large purple beam of light that struck Pichu as he was still shocking Exeggutor.

"Pii!" Pichu cried out.

"Egggs!" Exeggutor winced.

When the attack was over, PIchu fell off the plant pokemon's back, knocked out.

"Well! That was certainly a surprise ending!" The announcer called out as I recalled Pichu back to his pokeball. "It would seem that the electric mouse was hit by an attack that Slowbro used before it was knocked out! Now the score is 1 to 4, and Will's chances of winning are slim, his Exeggutor has already taken a lot of damage!"

_Really?_ And sure enough, it had. The plant pokemon was breathing hard, and half of the eggs on the top of its trunk were already knocked out. _No way, that thing must be weak. I mean, I know that it has been a while since last year, and I have trained… some, but I remember the Elite Four in Kanto being a lot tougher than this. I just don't get it, it's a grass psychic type, and it was hit was an electric attack, and a psychic one. Why did it take that much damage?_ I shook my head. "Oh well," I chuckled. "Lets take this guy out quick." I said with a smile as I grabbed a pokeball off my belt, tossing it out onto the field. In a read light appeared Scizor.

"Zor!" He screamed, spreading his wings as he slammed his feet into the ground.

"It would seem that Kyle is going with a Bug type against a Grass type!" The announcer spoke. "I wonder if the type advantage will be enough?"

"Scizor!" I called out. "Plow it with X-Scissor!"

"Sciz!" In a streak of red Scizor took off, flying at the weakened grass pokemon. He hit Exeggutor in the front with an X-Scissor before pushing off of it and landing on a wall. Scizor then bounced off the wall and hit it in the side, doing the same thing and landing on the adjacent wall. Three more times Scizor continued the attack, hitting Exeggutor so fast it didn't have time to react. Before long, the plant pokemon fell over, all of its faces knocked out.

"Siz…" Scizor spat as he put one of its feet on Exeggutor's trunk.

"That's it!" The announcer called out as the podiums lowered. "That's it! That's it, folks! Kyle Gray has just beaten Will! Kyle will be continuing to the next member of the Elite Four!"

When the podiums lowered to the ground I looked up, seeing the four televisions over the stadium focusing on Scizor, then focusing on me, and then on Will.

Will walked by Scizor, recalling Exeggutor as he did. Scizor watched him, then crossed his arms, and walked beside Will. We three met in the middle of the field, on top of the painted pokeball. Scizor glanced at me as he walked by. _I don't know, but I could have sworn he was wearing a grin._

"Kyle, darling." Will said, bringing my focus back on him. "That was a lovely battle, honey."

"Yeah…" I halfheartedly smiled. "You're a very good trainer." I lied.

"Thank you." He said as he offered his hand to me in the customary handshake. "That really does mean a lot coming from you."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I shook his hand. "You are part of the most elite group of pokemon trainers in Johto."

"Yes, but, I only got in because I'm friends with Karen." He then paused as he looked away. "You see, darling, Lance pulled out only a week before the people started registering for the tournament. They didn't have time to bring in a real trainer to compete, and the gym leaders that they asked turned them down. So, I got in because I was the only one that qualified. You see…" He then looked at me in the eyes. "I have been admiring you from a distance for a very long time. I have dreamed of the day I would meet you! I am such a big fan of your whole story! How you came out of Kanto with nothing and now you have everything!"

"Well… umm…" _This guy's getting wierd. But… that last comment… "now you have everything."_ I frowned. "I wouldn't say I have everything..."

Will then looked at me up and down. "Well, I said you do." He winked.

"Al-right!" I said loudly, turning around to walk away. "Nice meeting you! Have fun! Good battle! Cherie-o! Oh-ov-wa!" I then looked over at Scizor. "Lets get away from him!" I pushed his pokeball to his chest, sucking him in as I ran to the field entrance.

"Well! Kyle must really want to get his pokemon healed up!" The announcer called out.

"Yeah, lets stick with that story."

"Audience, the next battle will begin in thirty minutes, or whenever both trainers return to the field!"

I ran through the doorway, entering into the dim lit hallway with lockers.

"So." A mans voice said from behind me. "Mr. Gray."

I jumped, spinning around to see a ninja dressed in a red cape. He had dark blue spiky hair, and I knew right away who it was. "Gosh, Koga! Don't scare me like that."

"And here I thought you knew I was a ninja." He smiled as he kicked himself off the locker he was leaning against. "And I also thought you would have gotten stronger in this year and a half that you haven't fought me in."

"What are you talking about?" I questioned, pointing out to the stadium. "I just creamed Will like he was nothing."

"For good reason young one. He is nothing." Koga then stood up tall, looking down on me as he slowly crept into the shadows of the adjacent hallway. "That child is nothing more than a youngling that received his first pokemon. A small fish in a big pond. I, on the other hand, have been training nonstop for my future in the Elite Four." With those final words he vanished into the shadows. "Be ready Kyle." His voice echoed. "We three will be much more of a challenge."

"Phft." I laughed, brushing him off as I ran down the hallway, making my way to the pokemon center. _But still… he is right. I haven't been training my pokemon. I have three new pokemon, and that's it. I'm mostly relying on the power I had last year to pull me through this year. _I stopped running, listening to the echo of my footsteps dissipate in the dark hallway. "He's right. I'm not much of a trainer. I haven't trained at all since last year. I guess… it all goes back to… her." I began running again, thinking back to the girl that stole my heart. The one who took it, held it tight, and then left it to rot on the wooden dock covered in sea salt. _Everything was for her. It always was._

***_-Scene Change-_***

I was standing on my side of the stage when Koga made his appearance of the other side. _To my surprise, the pokecenter was pretty empty, and I got in and out of there quick, that is after I make a pokemon swop. _

"Ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer yelled over the speakers. "Koga, the second member of the Elite Four, and the challenger Kyle Gray, have both arrived at their designated areas of the arena!" The crowd cheered as the announcer continued. "The field will now be changed to one chosen by Koga."

Our podiums raised up high as the stage below us began to lower into the basement of the arena.

"Piiiiii!" Pichu said, clinging onto my jacket as we rose into the air.

"Hang in there." I smiled.

The ground raised back up, showing a swampy area with small trees and mucky looking poison seeping into the dirt.

"The field chose by the Elite Four member is a Poison Swamp. Kyle better choose wisely," the announcer spoke cautiously. "If he doesn't his pokemon might suffer from the slow and painful fate of being poisoned!"

"Pi.. chu…" Pichu whimpered.

"Don't worry," I said, patting him on the head. "I am pretty sure I won't need you to battle this time."

"Chaaa…" He sighed, letting out a deep breath of relief.

"Yeah, you did great last time." I said, patting him on the head. "You deserve a break."

"I shall go first!" Koga yelled as he grabbed a pokeball from his red cloth belt. "Go! Ariados!" The ball few onto the field, and in the red light appeared the massive spider.

It shook its head, stretched its legs and then screeched. "AAAaarrrrrrr!"

"Hehe." I grinned. "Bug type, aye? I know exactly who to use." I pulled the ball off my belt and gave it a toss. On the field, standing just as tall as Ariados, stood Typhlosion.

He shorted, making embers fly out and onto the ground. He then raised his foot up and stomped out the small flames.

"He-haha…" I laughed to myself. "He's trying to act like Arcanine. How cute."

"It seems that Kyle is going with the type advantage for is first move!" The announcer called out to the audience. "But will it be enough?"

"Ariados!" Koga started. "Night Shade!"

"Typhlosion!" I screamed. "Counter it with a Flamethrower!"

Typhlosion opened his mouth to shoot, but a dark wave of mist covered the arena. Everything went pitch black, and then I saw the flames. The Flamethrower attack shot out at Ariados, cutting through the darkness and casting a red haze over the field. The flames flew fast, but then, in the middle of the field, they stopped, turned directions and shot back at Typhlosion.

"Heat Wave!" I screamed. In the knick of time Typhlosion brought up a dome shaped shield of fire around himself. The Flamethrower attack struck, but instead of doing damage, it fed the flames that were building around Typhlosion. Before long the Heat Wave attack grew, and the fire was bright enough that I was able to start making out shapes in the darkness. The trees and greenery around the swampy area were beginning to catch on fire, the poison gas in the air was starting to ignite, and in the corner, beside Koga stand, was Ariados, curled up protecting itself from the fire.

"Enough!" Koga screamed. "Return Ariados!" And with that the darkness went away, making everything visible again. Typhlosion stopped his attack, looking around and seeing that everything was burning. I saw him cough, letting some flames go as he did. _Oh no, maybe I had him overdo it? Could he be poisoned so soon?_ When his attack stopped, the plants began to sizzle out, and black smoke rose up into the sky, once again making it difficult to see anything.

"Things are heating up now!" The announcer called out. "But it is difficult for me to see anything in this smoke! It would seem, however, that Koga has recalled his Ariados, disqualifying him from using it again. This means Kyle gains one point!"

"Go, Crobat!" Koga yelled.

Typhlosion caughed again, closing one eye as he looked up at the flying bat that was flapping its four wings.

_Oh great._ I bit my lip. _This is not good. Out there for just one minute was enough to get him poisoned. Those gasses must be very toxic. _I looked out on the field, watching as Koga began to move his arm.

"Poison Fang!" He screamed as Crobat bolted into action.

"Typhlosion!" I screamed as I held up his pokeball. "Return!" The red light hit his back as Crobat was baring his fangs. Its teeth sunk in, and passed straight through the red light that was once Typhlosion.

"Smart move, boy." Koga commented. "Perhaps you have grown since our last encounter. One more attack would have done away with your little fire type pokemon."

"It would seem that Kyle has recalled Typhlosion." The announcer spoke. "The score is still in Kyle's favor, but he needs to be careful to not get his party poisoned on this field."

_Since I can't fight him on the ground._ I thought to myself, as I looked to the sky. "I'll have to take the battle to the air!" I knew what my choice would be. "Go, Dragonite!"

Dragonite slowly fluttered out in a red light, stretching her neck as she looked to the bat pokemon that was hovering inches away from the ground. The two stared at each other as Koga, once again, make the first move.

"Well Crobat!" He almost laughed. "Why don't we give Mr. Gray a taste of his own poison!"

"Cro!" The bat nodded, but that was it. I watched it closely, examining the field, making sure I didn't miss something. It was then that I saw Dragonite turn her head, looking over my shoulder.

I then focused my attention on her, confused. In a flash I saw her turn over in the air, doing a back flip as she slammed her fist down, punching into nothing. "What?" I gasped as I saw a Crobat appear where she punched. The bat was thrown to the ground by the attack, landing right beside the first Crobat.

"Cro… Cro…" it gasped.

"Hahaha!" Koga laughed. "It appears that your pokemon are more intelligent than you are! How can you possibly be a good trainer if you have nothing your pokemon can learn from!"

"Grr…" I grit my teeth as I looked down at the two Crobats, both of which were flying now, floating up closer to us.

"Dragonite!" I pointed down to the two bats. "Hyper Beam!"

"I think not." Koga then threw out his arms, and like magic the two Crobats turned into fifty.

"I get it." I said, watching as Dragonite tried to focus on the one she hit previously, building her attack. "Double Team. So that's what he meant by 'my own poison'." Dragonite let loose of the Hyper Beam. It blasted through about twenty or so of the bats, but it did not strike the leader. In a split second the arena was covered with the flying bats again, all soaring around in circles.

Dragonite took a deep break, trying to charge up for another attack. "No." I said, holding out my arm to her. "Not yet. Wait for it." I then looked at her over my shoulder. "When I give you the sign, use your Twister attack."

"Dra." She nodded.

"Hmm…" Koga glanced up.

We both stood strong, not making a move for several minutes. Both Koga and I, stared each other down, almost as if we were in a staring contest. The crowd started to get restless, moving in their seats as they screamed at us.

"Come on!" One yelled.

"Get on with the show!"

"Booo! I want to see some action!"

Koga laughed when the audience started booing. "It looks like your scared, Mr. Gray." He then yelled it to the crowd behind him. "Look at Kyle, scared to move!"

"Hmph." I grinned. "What about you Koga!" I said back to him. "I personally think that your Crobat is all show. So far I haven seen it land one hit on anything. That is, besides the ground!"

Koga glared at me as he spun around.

"But, of course, what can I expect from a Rocket has been." I laughed. "Giovanni was more of a challenge than you. Ha! Even that grunt put up a better fight!"

"That's it!" Koga screamed. "You want under my skin, you got it! You will pay for your incompetence! Crobat! Poison Fang!"

At that moment all the Crobat stopped flying around the stadium, turned their beady little eyes to Dragonite, and then hissed. "Krooooo!" They all screamed as they took off, flying after Dragonit. I simply smiled, nodding to her as she flapped her wings violently. It started off small, but soon a twister appeared out of the air in front of her, and all the Crobat flew right into it. One by one the amount of Crobat dwindled until only one was left spinning around inside the vortex.

"No!" Koga grit his teeth.

"Now." I said with a nod. "Hyper Beam."

Dragonite opened her mouth, still flapping her wings to keep the Twister attack going. The bright white orb formed in front of her mouth, and shortly released into a beam. The beam shot into the vortex striking its target.

"Croo!" Crobat screamed as it fell to the ground, returned to its pokeball before it hit.

"In one of the most long winded battles this reporter has ever seen," The announcer said. "Kyle has scored yet another point."

"So, what was that about me not training?" I screamed to Koga.

"Take out the dragon," he commented back as he threw out a pokeball. "And the gates open to the treasure. Go Forretress"

"Pi?" Pichu looked at me from my shoulder.

"Ahh!" I groaned as I pulled my hair, twisting my body as Pichu struggled to hang onto my jacket. "Piii-iii-ii—ee!".

_Lets see… what can I remember about my fight with Jasmine and her Forretress… besides that it looks like a nut. Lets see, it acted like a turtle, withdrew in its shell, and used rapid spin. hmm… _"Ah, heck, I don't care, just Hyper Beam it." I said, pointing to the nut that sat in front of me on the field.

"Draaa!" Dragonite spoke, opening her mouth to charge another beam.

"Protect!" Koga commanded with a smile.

The Hyper Beam was released, dead on target of the sitting nut when out of nowhere came a reflective light that covered Forretress. The light caused the Hyper Beam to bounce off the pokemon and ricochet at me. The Hyper Beam was heading straight for me. I watched it get closer and closer. My eyes widened, and it was right then that I saw her face. Shonna was sitting on the back of Rapidash, smiling at me with that beautiful smile of hers. I was suddenly snapped back to reality when I saw a yellow figure come in between me and the white light of the Hyper Beam.

"DRAAA!" She screamed as she took the full power of the attack to the chest. Dragonite's limp body flew on top of me from the blast, tumbling side over side as she then knocked me to the ground and rolled off. I opened my eyes, seeing clouds in the sky and hearing nothing. I rolled over, resting on my hands and knees as I saw Pichu laying on the edge of the platform, holding onto the railing. He stood up as he looked over the edge of the podium.

"Piiii-Chaaa!" He called out.

I stood on my feet, still shaking from the blast, and the force of the four hundred pound dragon bouncing into me. I grabbed my ribs, feeling one of them move and then lock back into place. "Oh great." I groaned as I staggered to the edge. _The pain was extreme, but its not like I haven't felt this before._ "Stupid rib…"

_Everything sounded like I was in a tunnel, and it looked it too_. I glanced down at the ground, seeing Dragonite laying unconscious below me. I slowly recalled her, falling to my knees as I reached my hand for Pichu. He looked at me, worried as I picked him up. "Are you okay, little bud?"

"Pii…" he nodded. He then touched his paw to Dragonite's pokeball in my other hand.

"Don't worry, she's okay." I said with a smile. "But Koga…" I then grit my teeth. "He's going to pay." I stood up, my hearing beginning to regain as I held my ribs. I limped back to the other side of the podium. Facing Koga, wincing with every breath, I yelled to him. "You haven't changed one bit!" I screamed. "Last time it was Shonna that got hurt." I then bared my teeth together hard. "And now it's going to be you!" I grabbed the pokeball from around my neck. "Go Arcanine!"

The pokeball flew out onto the field, and in a red light, Arcanine stood.

"Arcanine!" I screamed. "Use your Heat Wave to shield you from the poison!"

"Arr…" He growled, letting embers fall from his teeth as he generated a sphere of pure fire. Poison gasses around him started igniting and the scorched shrubbery that was left over from Typhlosion began to catch ablaze once more.

"It would appear that despite the close call with the Hyper Beam, Kyle is still wanting to fight!" The announcer proclaimed. "Safety protocol states that if he is willing to continue he can, but a medical check will be conducted before the continuation of this event."

"Medical check?" I winced. "Fine. Whatever. Its not like this is my first broken bone. Arcanine!" I commanded. "Flare Blitz! And watch out for the puddles of poison!"

In a flash Arcanine took off, slamming into Forretress. The nut pokemon immediately caught flame, bouncing across the arena like a ping pong ball, before coming to a rest a few feet away from Arcanine.

"Explosion!"

Arcanine took a defense stance, enforcing the barrier around him with more fire as Forretress began to glow white. In a split second it exploded. The blast threw Arcanine away from the area, slamming him into a wall. His Heat Wave attack had diminished, and he was falling right into a poison pond.

"Arcanine!" I screamed. "Flamethrower, now!"

I saw his eyes open, and in a quick reflex, he shot a mound of flames out of his mouth, igniting the gas below him and hurling him back onto the field. He then growled, covering himself in a Heat Wave attack yet again.

"Good job…" I said with a smile.

"Koga used Explosion in a last ditch effort to take out the power-house Arcanine!" The announcer called. "But, it did little damage. The score is now three to one, and Kyle only needs to defeat two more pokemon to advance to the next level of the Elite Four!"

"Muk!" Koga screamed as he threw out his pokeball. The ball flew in the air, hit the ground and then bounced back to him, leaving the poisonous clump of toxic goo wiggling on the ground.

"Mu-u-uuuuck…" It bellowed in a low groan as it jiggled all over.

"Arcanine!" I screamed, remembering the last time I fought Koga. "Stir up some dust with an Extreme Speed Attack!"

"Not this time, boy!" Koga threw out his arm. "Muk! Minimize!"

Arcanine took off, beginning to run around the pokemon when it suddenly vanished. Like a magic trick Muk had sucked itself into a microscopic form and stayed invisible to the spectators around it. Arcanine stood, puzzled as he looked to me, still covering himself in a Heat Wave shield.

"Hmm…" I thought to myself as I looked to Koga, who was darting his eyes around the field. _Koga must see it. He has to. Its his pokemon. If he knows where it is, then it has to be there somewhere. _"And if its there, it can get hurt. Arcanine!" I yelled. "Cover the whole field in fire!"

"What!" Koga screamed. "No you fool!"

Arcanine's eyes rolled in the back of his head as he stood stiff. His head lowered and the hair on his body began to stand on end. A growl came, low at first and then growing larger as the ground around the stadium began to shake. A miniature earthquake shook as Arcanine let out a howl.

"AAAahhhhhhooooooooo!" He bellowed. Just then flames shot out in every direction, quickly covering the field. The flames hit the poison seepages, causing them to ignite in a fountain of flames that shot ten feet in the air. All the trees and greenery caught a blaze and sizzled to ashes. When Arcanine's attack ended the once green lush plants on the field were reduced to nothing but cinders. The toxic gas tanks were caught on fire like blowtorches, spewing flames in five corners of the rounded stadium floor. The ponds and streams that were once purple, now burned in blue flames.

"Hmph." Koga said as he held up a pokeball. The red light shot out, and struck one of the blue flaming puddles. The light consumed it, and returned the burning corpse of Muk. "You were lucky, boy." Koga then turned away, reaching for the white flag that was always placed by the trainer's side. With one wave, the crowd went silent. Everyone knew what the flag meant, but it was something that was never seen before.

Koga held the flag up high as the flames below him raged on.

"Unbelievable!" The announcer cried as the crowd cheered. "Koga! The second member of the Elite Four has just forfeited his last match!"

Arcanine put out his shield when I noticed that a fire fighting squad was called in to put out the flames. Squirtles, Wartortles and Blastoise piled in from all sides of the stage, standing in front of the audience behind the railings. All at once the pokemon shot their Water Gun, Water Pulse, Surf, and Hydro Pump Attacks at the field. It didn't take long before the fire was put out and the podiums lowered.

I glanced around. Pichu was still on my shoulder, and I saw medics running onto the field. I didn't care, I wanted to talk to Koga. I locked eyes with him as Arcanine ran to my side, giving me support as I tried to walk.

"Kyle!" One of the medics said as he ran up to me. "Kyle, you're not well. Please come with us."

"Not now…" I groaned as I limped further to the middle of the field.

"Please Kyle! We are here to hel-"

"I said not now!" I then shoved him away with the arm that wasn't wrapped around my ribs. "I'll be fine for now. Just give me a few minutes. Okay?"

"Alright…" He said cautiously as he walked away.

I glanced back forward, and saw Koga, waiting for me in the middle of the field. I slowly made my way over to him, as I looked at him in the eyes. "Why?" I asked.

"Why?" He scuffled at me. "Why what, boy?"

"Why forfeit? Why quit?"

"You haven't grown up at all." He then shook his head. "I quit the match because it was the logical thing to do."

"Logical?" I scolded. "Logical! You're telling me that you base what you do off of logic?"

"Why?"

"Why?" I fumed. "What about almost killing me? Was that logical?"

"I knew I couldn't defeat your Dragonite with a reflected attack at it. It would simply dodge it." He then looked at Arcanine. "But if it were directed at you, your pokemon would sacrifice themselves."

"You cheap little…" I squeezed my fist together as I raised up my hand, only to have the pain of my rib overpower me and leave me gasping for air.

"You see…" he continued. "If I sent out my last pokemon into that blazing inferno you called a field it would have been burnt long before it was able to land an attack."

"So that's why…" I gasped, holding my side as I breathed hard.

"Only partly." He then looked at me, screaming at me. "You almost caused the death of hundreds of people you moronic nit-whit!" He then pointed to one of the corners of the arena. "If those gas lines sucked in even one little spark or ember this whole place would have gone up like a roman candle! There are five poison gas tanks under this field you idiot! It would only take one blowing up to level this entire place!"

"Really." I said in a smile, which then turned to a laugh.

"I'm glad that you find peoples lives so meaningless that you can laugh at."

"I just find it funny." I then glared at him. "Are you not the one that designed this field?"

"So…" he paused. "What of it, boy?"

"Nothing." I then turned away. "Just seems logical."

"What was that?" Koga spoke loud.

"You heard what I said." I continued to walk away. "Take that any way you want."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Okay, take a deep breath." The doctor said. The light over me was blinding, I winced my eyes, trying to block the light but it was no use.

I was back in the hospital, laying on an operating table with this fancy X-Ray digital scanner running over my ribs. My shirt was off, laying off to the side, and my rib cage was wrapped. _This is all too familiar. This is just like when I showed up at this place. I swear, I think this league is trying to kill me. First that storm when I started, then Ricky, Team Rocket, the airship I took to get here and now Koga's 'logical move'._

"Well, Kyle." The doctor said. "You can sit up now."

"How is it, doc?" I asked, twisting my neck and popping it as I held my newly bandaged rib cage.

"Your rib on your bottom left cage was broke. It was clean so there is no need for surgery."

"That's good."

"You should be good to move around freely in four to six weeks. Until then I want you to take one of these pills after every meal." He then handed me a bottle.

I took it. The white pills where rather large. "What is it?"

"A calcium pill." He said as he flipped through some papers. "Those will give your bones extra support, helping you heal faster. Also, during the first two weeks do not sleep on your left side. And I would suggest not being too reckless. You don't want to put too much strain on our body or that rib might give way again."

"Alright, thanks." I then stood up, slipping on my shirt.

"Kyle. I'm serious."

"I know, I know." I waved as I walked out the door.

In the lobby was Bill, holding Pichu and my belt of pokeballs.

"Pi?" Pichu turned around to look at me. "Pi-ch!" He smiled, running from Bills lap. "Pi-ch-chu!"

"How is your injury?" Bill asked as he stood up.

"Eah," I said as Pichu ran up my shoulder to my head, nuzzling himself into my hair. "You know. Just a broken bone."

"Just?" Bill then shook his head.

"What?"

"I have never met someone whom brushes off injuries like you do."

"Bill," I glanced at him as I began to walk down the hall. "If you grew up like I did…"

"Yeah, well I didn't." We both grew silent. "You know, there are several rumors circulating around about the incident with the Hyper Beam."

"Really?" I asked. "It's only been about thirty minutes."

"You forget, there were thousands of people that saw that. Both on the television broadcast and in the audience."

"Okay," I commented as we walked. "What kind of rumors?"

"Some say that Koga was trying to eliminate you from the competition, permanently." Bill talked as he raised his fingers up. "Another rumor is that Koga knew he had no chance of winning, so he tried to play a trump card. If you called a time out for a medical injury then the battle would have been a tie."

"Well, they are not far off." With that Bill looked at me a little disbelieving and confused. "When I asked why, he said that it was the most 'logical' thing to do."

"Logical?" Bill asked.

"Yeah." I then laughed. "Who knows with that guy? Anyway, I better get back out to the field."

"You're not going to take a lunch break?"

"Trust me. When you have a broken rib, you don't feel like filling up."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"What a great day to be here!" The announcer called out. It sounded funny, almost like he was out of breath or something. "Kyle is back on the field, waiting on his side of the stage! I must say, this is the best day ever! They are so many buttons up here and- Hey! Wait!" He started screaming. "The door was open! I swear!" I turned my head, raising my eyebrow when I looked up to the announcer stand. A camera zoomed in on my face, projecting it on the wide screen TV.

"Umm-mmu!" The real announcer said. "Sorry about that small delay everyone. It would seem that an audience member broke into the announcing booth-"

"You left the door open!" The voice from before yelled in the background.

"Shut up!" Another, more masculine voice said.

"Back to the battle!" The announcer called out. "It would seem that Kyle is back on the field. The doctors said that he has suffered from a broken rib, and wishes to continue!"

The crowd around me cheered as I waved.

"Oh, what's this?" The announcer said as one of the cameras focused in on the left hand side of the stage. It zoomed in on the entrance door, enlarging the picture to show a very buff man wearing a long white jacket. The man I already knew. He had long black hair that swung down in a ponytail. His face was rough, scared in several places. As he put one foot on the podium that rose up, his jacket fell off of him, showing his muscular figure.

"Bruno!" The announcer called out as the crown roared. "Bruno! The fighting type champion of the world, known for being a member of two regions Elite Four has just entered the fighting ring!" The podium rose as one camera stayed focused on Bruno, the other panned over to me. Our eyes locked, and we both smiled. "These two have met once before, one year ago at this very same place. Will this year be a repeat from last year, or will Bruno prevail? You won't want to miss this clash of power!"

When the podium was fully raised the stage below us changed once again. I watched, and like I previously thought, the field turned into rock field, with boulders and rocks littering the arena.

"As before the field has be changed to one chosen by the Elite Four member, Bruno! The field of choice is a rock field. Kyle better be careful, his fire types will have a hard time getting a grip in this rugged terrain."

Beside us the referee's podium raised. The man stood there, in his black and white stripped shirt as he held a gold a silver flag. "Are you ready?" Bruno smiled, nodding his head. The referee then turned to me. "Are you ready?" Like wise I smiled, nodding. "Then let the battle…" There was a pause as he raised both flags. "Begin!"

***_-Scene Change-_***

Bill waked down the empty hallway of the Indigo Plateau. He was behind Kyle's side of the field, and looked out occasionally. The battle had just started, but that wasn't his main concern at the time.

"Should I have told him?" He asked himself as he looked out of the door, leading to the stands and the battle. He then turned away, walking down the hall to the Pokecenter. As he did he retraced his steps, remembering word for word what happened during Kyle's last battle.

***_-Flash Back-_***

Kyle's Typhlosion had just been recalled when Bill looked down to his computer. The screen was dim, hard to read in the sunlight of the day, but he could still make it out. It was an email, one that was just received moments before. He brought his mouse to the envelope icon, and clicked on it. It read as follows:

_Bill,_

_This is Officer Jenney from Mahogany Town. The Fire Department and Rescue Team have been cleaning the carnage from the Mount Silver cave since the incident several weeks prior. As you have requested the information on the identities of the casualties are listed below. Please keep in mind that this is classified information and is prohibited viewing for anyone without authorization. _

_Alfredo Stonerock_

_Andres Cosio_

_Chin Guebert_

_Dominga Weiland_

_Elliott Dewolf_

_Iliana Groce_

_Jeanett Grizzell_

_Jennie Rosborough_

_Keisha Seel_

_Kelly Littleton_

_Laurel Castellanos_

_Mary Lauffer_

_Mohammed Lairson_

_Myrl Crichton_

_Ruthanne Melnik_

_Tova Echeverri_

_Wendie Botts_

_Winifred Saulsbury_

_Yu Sachse_

_Zane Mccart_

Bill read through the results, scanning the names and then closed his computer. He stood up, exiting as Dragonite appeared beside Kyle. The hallway was empty, perfect for what he had to do. Bill reached into his pocket, bringing out an earphone, mini-microphone combo and sat down on the floor. He adjusted his ear piece, pinned on the microphone and then opened his computer. The Bluetooth on the device picked up, and Bill then opened up a direct line to the police station in Mahogany Town.

"Police department, Deputy Harvey speaking."

"Get me Jenny." Bill commanded.

"I'm sorry, but she has requested no phone calls at the moment."

"Alright." Bill said as he opened up another window on his computer. "Thank you." He then ran a scan, tracking the IP address in the Police station and pulling up a complete list of names and numbers for every phone jack in the building.

"Would you like to leave her a message? I would be happy to-"

"No, that's fine." Bill said. "You have done more than enough, Harvey." With that he cut the call. He then read down the list of names to Jenny's, and dialed it. The phone rang for a while, and then Jenny picked up. "Bill?" She asked.

"Jenny!" Bill said surprised. "How could you tell?"

"Because you are the only person who has hacked us before." There was a pause. "Don't worry about it Harvey." She yelled. "So tell me, what is so important that you thought you should hack into our phone lines?"

"I didn't hack anything." Bill said. "I simply retrieved a number. But, to get to the point, I was calling about the list of identities that I received."

"Yes, what about them?" Jenny asked annoyed.

"Was there any bodies found that were not on the list?"

"As a matter of fact there were two." Jenny said as she flipped through some papers. "Two bodies were so mangled that a clear match was not found. One was crushed beyond comprehension of it even being a person, I'm afraid. Just a bloody mess."

"Alright, thanks Jenny." Bill said. "That's all I needed to know."

***_-Flash Back End-_***

Bill kicked the wall. "Should I tell him that Ricky wasn't on the list?" He then turned around, putting his back to the wall as he rested. "But, maybe I'm over reacting. After all Jenny did say that one of the bodies was crushed so badly they couldn't identify it." He then signed. "Still… the possibility still remains. No, not even that. The probability remains." He then laughed as he kicked himself off the wall. "Who am I kidding? It would be a one in ten billion of a chance that he made it out of there. Heck, probably even less than that." He walked down hall, heading back to his seat. "There is no need to tell Kyle anything. I might as well forget it ever happened."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Wing Attack!" I screamed.

"High Jump Kick!" Bruno yelled.

Pidgeot was flying high above the arena when her wings began to glow. Hitmonlee was on the ground, bending his knees as his springy legs bolted him high into the air. He raised his leg, swinging his foot in a powerful kick up at Pidgeot. She turned over, the foot passing right by her belly as she went down into a nosedive, striking Hitmonlee with an extremely fast Wing Attack.

Pidgeot flew back to my podium, resting on the rails as Hitmonlee fell to the ground.

"That's two on zip!" The announcer called out. "With one pokemon Kyle has taken down Both Hitmontop and Hitmonlee! I wonder what Burno's next pokemon will be?"

"Something that will bring you out of the sky!" Bruno said as he reached for a pokeball.

"I doubt it." I grinned as he threw out his next choice.


	34. Into the Dark

**Chapter 33**

**Into the Dark**

"That's two on zip!" The announcer called out. "With one pokemon Kyle has taken down Both Hitmontop and Hitmonlee! I wonder what Bruno's next pokemon will be?"

"Something that will bring you out of the sky!" Bruno said as he reached for a pokeball.

"I doubt it, bud." I grinned as he threw out his next choice.

"Ooooonnnn!" The Onix roared as he slithered over the field.

"Well, looks like I'm going to have to change my strategy up a bit." I said as I placed a hand on Pidgeot's back. She turned to look at me, almost with a smile. I smiled back, holding up her pokeball as she pressed her beak on to it.

"It looks like a pokemon switch!" The announcer called out.

"Go, Gyarados!" I yelled, throwing out his pokeball.

The ball hit the field, putting off a red light as the large serpent appeared. "GGggaarrr!" It roared. Gyarados and Onix both stood the same height, slithering around each other as they both gave off warning blows. Onix plowed into Gyarados, Gyarados thrashed into Onix. Both were just getting warmed up.

"Onix!" Bruno called out. "Sandstorm!"

Onix roared loud as it began to raise its tail up high in the air. "Watch out!" I screamed. But to my amazement, instead of slamming its tail into Gyarados it slammed it on the ground, repeatedly. Before long the ground shook, throwing up dirt and rocks into the air. Gyarados winced as some of the dirt got into his eyes.

"It looks as though Gyarados is being buffeted by rocks!" The announcer said.

"Buffeted?" I questioned. "Where does he come up with some of these words?" I then focused back to the battle. "Hydro Pump!" I screamed.

Gyarados, still not able to see well from the sandstorm that had covered the field, shot out a blast of water into the direction he thought Onix was at. But it missed.

Suddenly rocks began to fall out of the sky. "Move!" I screamed. Gyarados, in the knick of time, moved out of the way of the rocks. They fell to the ground, making small craters when they hit. But then, almost as if it were a trap, even more rocks, bigger and movie faster, were right over where Gyarados was currently at. He was blocked in, cornered. On one side was boulders, on the other, a wall. _I have to think fast… what to do…_ "Gyarados!" I screamed. "Flamethrower the sky!"

Gyarados tilted his head up, blasting a mound of flames skyward. The fire was able to slow down the rocks, but instead of reflecting them, they were now molten. The melted boulders fell on Gyarados, leaving very bad burns on his body.

"Oh, a bad move on Kyle's part!" The announcer said. "It would seem that instead of protecting Gyarados he managed to improve on Bruno's Rock Slide Attack!"

"Gyarados!" I said. "If you can't see it, just flush it out! Use Surf!"

Gyarados began bellowing out water in all directions; in the sky, on the ground, and sometimes even spinning around in circles. Before long the entire arena was turned into a water field, and Onix was laying at the bottom of the pool, knocked out.

"That makes three wins for Kyle!" The announcer said as Bruno recalled his Onix. "Only two more points and Kyle advances to the last member of the Elite Four!" I looked down to Gyarados. He was under the water, licking on his burns and using Hydro Pumps to stop the pain. The water was muddy. The dirt and rocks caused the surf attack to turn the arena into a mud puddle.

"You just made a bad move." Bruno said as he grabbed another pokeball.

"Oh come on!" I yelled back. "That's a bluff. You only have fighting pokemon. On a water field you are out of luck!"

"You shouldn't count your chickens! Go Hitmonchan!" He threw out his pokeball, and in the air the fighting pokemon appeared. "Now!" Bruno said while Hitmonchan was falling. "Thunder Punch!"

"Hit!" Hitmonchan charged up one of his boxing gloves as he lowered to the water.

"Yeah right." I laughed.

"CHAN!" It swung, releasing such a charge that it actually shot him back up into the air.

"GAR!" Gyarados cried out in pain. The electricity surged through him, zapping what was left of his power. Under the water he laid, knocked out.

"Argg…" I groaned as I recalled him.

"Now!" Bruno said. "Ice Punch!"

Hitmonchan fell back down to water, smacking it with another charged up glove, which this time changed the water field to an ice field. Hitmonchan stayed there, resting on its fist balancing itself in the air, almost like it was doing a one arm vertical push up. Slowing the water froze. It was amazing, beautiful even. The water, particle by particle froze like a highspeed camera. When the water was solid, Hitmonchan did a flip, off of his fist and landed on the ice, skating to a stop with his firsts up ready for more.

"Never in my life," the announcer called out. "Have I seen a chain of events like this! Bruno, counted as out after the field was changed to water by the power of Gyarados was able to silence the beast with its own move! And not only that, but he changed the field back to a stage that he has the advantage on!"

_That does put me in a pickle. _I thought to myself. "Well, for lack of a better idea." I smiled as I reached for a Pokeball. "I think he needs some exercise anyway." I threw the ball out on the new ice field, and in a red light his bright shiny exoskeleton glimmered.

"Sciz!" Scizor spoke, getting in a fighting stance with one claw in front of his face and the other to his side.

"It looks like Kyle is going with a bug type against a fighting type." The announcer said. "I don't know about you, but this looks like a bad pokemon choice to me!"

"Scizor!" I commanded. "Use Wing Attack!"

"Dodge!" Bruno said.

Scizor took off, flying at Hitmonchan with bright silver wings that sparkled with the frost that was rising off the frozen water. He flew fast, turning over sidewise, getting his wings lined up with Hitmonchan.

"Now!" Bruno yelled. When he did Hitmonchan side stepped to the left, having Scizor fly right in front of him. Hitmonchan charged up his fist, landing a direct Fire Punch into Scizor's back. Scizor was thrown threw the air, tumbling end over end uncontrollably until he hit the wall. He slammed into it, and then fell to the ground. Scizor stood up, a burn on his back, and ice on his feet. He was stubborn, which was what we needed in this fight.

"Scizor!" I said. "Use Iron Head!"

"Again Hitmonchan!"

Scizor once again took after Hitmonchan, this time with extreme speed. He was almost a red blur when he took off. Just as he was ready to impact, Hitmonchan dodged.

"Slash!" I screamed.

"What!" Bruno said, taken back and surprised.

Scizor, going at full speed simply had to hold out his arms and open his pincers to generate a very effect slash attack to Bruno's Hitmonchan. The fighting pokemon was hit point black with a powerful slash attack across the chest.

Scizor slammed his feet into the ice, cracking and shattering it as he slid to a stop. He stood, turning to look at Hitmonchan as the boxing pokemon grabbed at his chest.

"Now!" I said. "Iron Head again!"

Scizor took off. Hitmonchan was still taken back from the previous attack, which left it with its guard down. The Iron Head attack struck with enough force to throw the fighting pokemon across the arena. It slid on the ice before impacting into the adjacent wall. Hitmonchan was knocked out.

After his attack Scizor fell to his knees. The burn on his back was causing him great pain, and also took a toll on his body. The Iron Head attack did not help things either. He fell over, knocked out as well.

"It would seem that both pokemon were knocked out!" The announcer called. "That leaves the score at 4 on 2! Kyle only has to defeat one more pokemon to advance to the next stage of the Elite Four! But Bruno is making a comeback it seems, folks!"

"Yeah right." I smiled. "I already know his next pokemon. I fought it last year." I readied my pokeball. "Against his Machamp I think I'll use Pidgeot." We both threw out our pokeballs, and just as I thought, Machamp was on the field.

"Oh no folks!" The announcer called out. "It looks like that Pidgeot has already taken serious damage." I looked over at her. She was breathing hard, but I know she could take down this last one. _No problem._

"Pidgeot." I looked at her. "Go ahead and use roost while Bruno is thinking." She nodded at me as she enclosed her wings around her. She focused, restoring her concentration and energy. But Bruno never made a move. He stood there, crossing his arms just like his Machamp was doing. They were both waiting on us to make the first move. I bided my time, watching Pidgeot recover until she looked fully healed. _Maybe that was his game. He might have wanted me to fight him at my best?_ "Alright!" I said as I pointed to Machamp. "Wing Attack!"

"Pidge!" Pidgeot crowed. In the distance I saw Bruno grin.

Pidgeot flew right at Machamp, but still, it made no move. Both Bruno and Machamp stood there, still as a statue. Pidgeot turned her body, lining up her wing when Machamp finally moved. It raised up one hand, catching Pidgeot's head in its palm as it held her there. She flapped her wings, made a gust attack, trying to shake the fighting pokemon, but it wouldn't budge.

"Revenge." Bruno said calmly. With that Machamp wrapped all four hand around Pidgeot's body, squeezing her tight. She screamed in pain, but was shortly silence when Machamp threw her into the frozen ice. It shattered making an impact crater that threw ice into the air. Pidgeot tried to raise herself up, but she fell down, knocked out.

I recalled her as the announcer spoke. "The score is now 3 to 4. Kyle is still in the lead but will this pokemon be the one that will break his winning streak?"

"Pi…" Pichu said scared as he tucked in behind my book bag.

"Hey now," I laughed. "Don't worry littl' bud, you're not going out there."

"Pi?"

"Only two pokemon left, excluding Pichu." I said to myself as I put my hand to my chin, stroking it as I thought. "That leaves me with a water type, or a fire." I then remembered the conversation Professor Oak had with me the day before, as I looked down into my jacket pocket. "Or, I suppose an Ice one." I then shook my head. "No. If I did that then she could never go free. If people knew she existed then they would hunt her down to the end of the earth." I pondered more. "Arcanine is always my back up, so I guess that leaves you." I reached my hand down to my belt, pulling off a pokeball that had several scuffmarks on it, from where Kabuto had played with it when he was a young crab.

"Kabutops!" I screamed as I threw out the pokeball. "Go!" The pokeball flew from my hand, hitting the field. In the red glow Kabutops stretched, then turned his head to look around at the audience.

"Bu! Bu! Bu!" He smiled as they cheered. He then put his swords up into the air, moving them up and down like a wave as he began hopping on one foot, then on the other. "Bu! Bu! Bu-tops!" He laughed and danced.

"For the second time in this competition the prehistoric pokemon is brought out!" The announcer called. "Bruno better be carful, this pokemon is one fierce opponent!"

It was then that Kabutops hops got the best of him. He landed on the ice with his food at a slant, causing him to fall on his back. I slapped myself on the forehead as he struggled to stand. _It was almost like watching a turtle that had been flipped over._ Finally he rolled over, pressed his swords into the ice and pulled himself up. I saw him look around at the crowd, water in his eyes as he began to cry.

"Boooo-Ta-Ta-Taps!" He whined.

_Oh no… _I thought to myself. _I got to turn this around. I have to do something._ I snapped my fingers. "I'll just have to use this to my advantage. Hey! Kabutops!" I yelled.

He turned to look at me, tears in his eyes.

"You wanna know who turned this field into ice! Because of that, HE made you fall!" I then pointed to Bruno. "It was HIM and HIS pokemon! They are the ones that made you cry!"

"Buu…" Kabutops then looked at Machamp with a glare. He growled, standing up as he crossed his swords in front of his face. "Buuuu…" he said in a low groan as he tilted his body backwards. "TOPPPPS!" He then threw himself forward about a foot, uncrossing his arms and releasing an Ice Beam attack that shot right at Machamp.

"Defend!" Bruno commanded.

Machamp did as it was ordered. Its four arms crossed over its face, blocking the Ice Beam, but for a price. When the attack was over Machamp moved his arms away, only to see that his two arms on the left hand side were frozen together in a chunk of ice.

"Champ!" He groaned, trying to pound on the ice to get it to break.

"Now!" I screamed. "Ice Beam his feet!"

"Move!" Bruno said.

Machamp was taken off guard by the abrupt orders and hesitated. The Ice Beam hit, and in an instant the fighting pokemon was frozen to the ground.

"Kabutops!" I screamed. "Make him sorry he ever made you fall!"

Kabutops ran right at Machamp. The pokemon tried to attack, throwing his two free fists at Kabutops, but he was able to leap over them. He then landed on its back, and bit down hard into Machamps neck, draining its energy with his Giga Drain attack.

"Chaaamp!" it screamed out. It then reached its hand up to grab at Kabutops, but couldn't see where he was. Machamp latched on to one of Kabutops swords, slashing its hand as it then pulled it away. "Chhaa…aaa.." It said weak, as it began to nod off. "Cha…aa…ahhh…" Then it fell backwards, its feet still frozen as he hit the ground behind it.

Kabutos jumped off its back as it fell. "Boo-hoo!" He mocked, sticking out his tough as he put his swords on ether side of his head, making a childish face at the unconscious Machamp.

"That's it!" The announcer called as the crowed roared. "That's it! That's it! Kyle has advanced to the next round of the Elite Four!" Our podiums then lowered as we both crossed the frozen field. I recalled Kabutops. _The last thing I want him to do would be try to attack Bruno, or even worse, try to hug him…_

As we approached each other, Bruno was the first to offer his hand. I looked at him, standing nearly two foot taller than my 5' 6" mark. "I will never get over how tall you are." I said with a smile.

"Don't worry, kiddo!" He said as he put one of his massive hands on my head. He then ruffled up my hair. "You'll hit your growth spurt some time."

"That's the thing," I chuckled, "I think I already have."

We both looked at each other, and then began to laugh. "You know," he said as took his hand off me. "You're alright." He then looked to my shoulder. "What's this?"

I looked over, seeing Pichu. He had stuck his head out from my book back as he yipped, jumping back in. "Oh, that's Pichu." I laughed. "He's just a little shy about new people."

"Pi…" He whimpered with his ears tucked back behind his head. He peaked out again, looking up at Bruno.

"Well, we have to change that, don't we?" He then lowered down, holding his hand over my book bag. Pichu looked at him, then at his hand. He stuck his head out, sniffed his hand and the rubbed his head on Bruno's palm.

"Pii-cha!" He smiled as Bruno pet him.

"Wow." I said. "He never lets anyone new do that to him."

"Kyle," Bruno smiled as he continued to pet Pichu. "I see great potential in you."

I looked at him oddly. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since last year I saw it. I can't explain it." He paused. "Your dedication to your pokemon, and the care you show for everyone. I see myself in you."

"Only a lot shorter?" I added in as we chuckled.

"Kyle?" Bruno asked. "How would you like to be in the Pokemon League?"

"The… Pokemon League?" I asked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, as I'm sure you know, our current crop of Gym Leaders are not very promising, and even some of the Elite Four members have been losing their luster." He then raised back up. "Of course I can put in a good word for you, I could get you a really nice place. I do know people. So what do you say?"

I frowned as I looked to the ground. The ice was cold, causing a glimmering mist to raise up from it. _My own gym? Elite Four member? In the Pokemon League?_ I turned to the crowd, watching them cheer and hold up signs, the majority of which I couldn't even read because they were so small, or too far away.

Finally I looked back up to Bruno. "I'm sorry." I said. "I would love too…"

"But what?" Bruno asked. "If you're worried about the money, they pay really good!"

"No, its not that." I then was brought back to the thing that had been driving me this whole time. The day at the docks. The day that the ocean waves stopped still. The day that the sun never finished setting, and the day that my heart never healed. "There is something I have to do first."

Bruno looked sown at me. He saw the look in my face, the tears about to swell in my eyes. I then heard him sigh as he put a hand on my shoulder. "You don't need to say any more." He smiled. "I understand." There was a pause as we both smiled. "It was a great battle." He said as he offered his hand yet again.

"It was, wasn't it?" I said, accepting his offer. "You almost had me there."

"How about you train with me some time? I would love to have a sparing partner."

"If I find the time, I'll be sure to look you up." I said as I took my hand away. "Thanks, Bruno."

"Be safe, kiddo!" With that we both walked away.

_Would I ever see that man again? Who knows? One thing is for sure though. Today I have realized something. I know that she was the driving reason, but I always thought she was the driver and I was along for the ride. Now I see that just isn't true. She might be the motive. She might be how I'm getting to where I'm going, but I am the driver. I am the one who makes my own decisions. Why did I come here? It isn't because of her. I came here because I wanted to, not because I thought I would find her. I came here to get away. I came here because I thought that would be best. _

_How stupid was I? _

***_-Scene Change-_***

The breeze was blowing, and the sky was bright. A blue haze was casting itself over the frozen field that was left unchanged from the previous match. Pichu was beside me, sitting on my shoulder and wearing his biker goggles as a camera zoomed in close on him. He turned to look at the camera, and then gave a peace sign as he grinned from ear to ear. _I had already made my stop at the pokemon center. The place was more crowed this time than the other, but it was all news crew members. They all wanted to know how I was doing, if my injury was bad, and how I felt about the next battle. Ended up I couldn't answer a single question. I just cant help it, cameras are almost as bad as needles… Eaahhh! They really freak me out!_

_ When I was on my way back to the field one of the league representatives approached me. He said that they were taking a break, and that the next battle would resume in an hour. The majority of that time has already passed. _

"May I have your attention please?" The announcer said.

"Alright," I said, getting ready for my next battle.

"It seems that the ice field from the previous battle is not wanting to break. Would the audiences in the first four rows kindly move up to the upper portions of the area to make room for our fire team of pokemon? The ice needs to be melted. Once done so, you may return to your seats."

I chuckled, watching the audience members get up and move. Some were grumbling, others thought it was very entertaining to see all the fire type pokemon pile in. Within minutes the first rows were filled with Charmanders, Charmelons, Charizards, Cyndaquil, Quilava and Typhlosion. They all stood in line, around the frozen pond. At the sound of a whistle the fire began to bellow out. All the pokemon were using their most powerful fire attack on the ice. Very soon the ice was melted, and what was left was a massive swimming pool with a few miniature icebergs bobbing around. And just like that, as quickly as they came in, the pokemon retreated, heading back to their proper places.

"Thank you audience members." The announcer said. "You may now return to your seats. The field will now be changing to one chosen by the Elite Four member, Karen!"

I watched as the rock field that was submerged begin to separate. A line that was drawn down the middle of the field began to get wider and wider, as it did the water began to drain. I heard it fall down into some type of drainage system, _it honestly sounded like a waterfall that never ended_. After a few minutes the water was completely drained, and the only thing left was a very damp field. The muddy arena came back together, filling in the open gap that was creased down the middle until it closed up. It was then lowered down, taken away out of view when a new field arose. This one was lush, with a few trees scattered through it, a bunch of shrubberies, and flowers of all sizes and colors that littered the whole arena.

"The field chosen by Karen is a new type of field," the announcer said. "It was created by her, and she calls it her 'Dark Field of Fear'."

I looked around at the flowers on this very magazine-cut-out looking garden area. "This is a field of fear?" I laughed, "Yeah, right."

"Crrr- Ca- Errrrrrr!" A loud mechanical noise rang out over the stadium.

"What was that?" I jumped, looking around. The sound continued, but I didn't see anything change, until I noticed the natural light going dim. I looked up, and sure enough the roof was closing. The sun was being blocked, and it was closing fast. _Before long this place is going to be completely dark._ And it was.

In the darkness of the arena is when I finally got it. "That's what a nightmare is. It starts off like a perfect dream, and before long it goes dark." A dim red spot light suddenly shined down on me, and my new opponent whom had snuck in on the other side.

"Karen has now entered into the arena!" The announcer called as the crowed cheered. "Will her field, and her choice of pokemon be enough to stop the young master in his tracks?"

"Pichu," I said, turning my head to look at him in the dim red light. "This is one fight that I'm going to need you in."

"Pi." Pichu nodded as he narrowed his eyebrows.

"It might be scary out there." I said, then smiled. "But I know you can do it. I believe in you. You have grown so much since you first hatched."

"Piii…" He turned his head to look at me, wide-eyed as he began to grin. "Pi-cha!" he cried as he hugged my neck.

"It's true. You are great." I then pat his head as he looked at me. "And believe me, you sure pack a punch. So, do you think your ready for this fight?"

"Cha!" He nodded, ready to jump off my shoulder.

"Hold on!" I laughed, grabbing him in mid-air. "You still have to wait for me to tell you when to go. Not yet, okay?"

"Let us begin," Karen spoke as she held a pokeball. "Go!"

In the dim light it was hard to tell what was going on in the field below us, but from my own experience with that certain kind of pokemon, I already knew what was happening. The yellow rings on its legs that glowed and pulsated gave away what pokemon it was, and because of that I knew its movement. I saw shrubberies shake, bushes move, and yellow streaks from where it was using Quick Attack to evade detection.

"So, against a dark type," I smiled, holding up a pokeball. "I guess my best bet would be a bug. Go! Beedrill" The ball flew out of my hand, and into the darkness. I heard it open, and then the buzzing of wings. "Hmph." I smiled.

_**BAM!**_

"Ahh!" I screamed as the recoiling pokeball came back and smacked me in the face. "That hurt!" I groaned, bending down to pick up the ball.

"Dark Pulse!" Karen commanded.

My eyes adjusted, and I saw Beedrill suddenly fly to the ceiling. The dim red lights then changed to purple with the dark pulse attack. Beedrill then vanished into the rafters, evading the powerful dark strike.

"Beedrill!" I yelled, making sure that he heard me. "Stay hidden until you have located it!"

"Your pokemon shall never find mine." Karen said as she commanded another attack. "Confuse Ray!"

In the darkness I saw seven yellow rings run into the open part of the field. They pulsated, and then two red eyes began to glow. "Breee!" It screamed as a very dim yellow light, like a sphere formed around it. It grew and formed into a cylinder. "Oooon!" The cylinder then expanded vertically, blasting to the roof and covering the entire top of the stadium. As the attack diminished, I heard the buzzing of wings, which seemed to grow lowered. Very shortly I knew what had happened, as Beedrill slammed to the ground.

"Get up!" I screamed to Beedrill. "If you're grounded you're done for! You have to fly!"

Beedrill struggled to stand, flapping its wings hard, but only buzzing off sideways and into a tree.

"Faint Attack." Karen smiled.

Umbreon took off like a bullet, it covered itself in a purple haze that glowed as it struck into Beedrill. Beedrill tumbled end over end as he was thrown against the wall. He fell to the ground, trying to get up.

"Again!" Karen said, "Finish it!"

"Beedrill!" I screamed, remembering back to our training we did only a week before…

*** FLASH BACK ***

_Beedrill was pinned down, back against a tree as Kabutops ran after him. _

"_Wai.t " I yelled, holding up a hand as the two stopped the battle to look at me. "Beedrill," I said with a smile as I walked over to him. "There is a reason why I had you and Kabutops spar today."_

"_Bu?" Kabutops tilted his head, looking at me strangely as I walked over to Beedrill._

"_When you are in a rough spot, your enemy it coming at you and you have no way to defended, there is one last ditch effort you can do."_

"_Bzzz?" Beedrill stared at me, out of breath._

"_I want you to put your legs and arms behind you, gripping on the wall your up against." I demonstrated as I spoke. "When your opponent attacks they will be left open. In that instance when they hit you, throw your arms, stingers, and feet into them." I then backed up. "Now, remember that this is a last ditch effort, but I still want you to practice it." I then nodded to Kabutops. "Kabutops's rock body will deflect the majority of the damage you inflect on him, so don't hold back." I then looked back to Beedrill. "I want you to practice this. This time, with your eyes closed. Are you ready?"_

"_Bzzz…" he nodded, closing his eyes as he put his legs, arms and stingers onto the tree behind him._

*** FLASH BACK END ***

"Beedrill!" I screamed. "Use your Last Ditch Move!"

I saw Beedrill lift up his stingers as he stood. His arms, stingers and feet grabbed onto the wall behind him. He was dazed, almost knocked out, but for him to perform this move he only needed his speed. Umbreon once again covered itself in a purple light as it rammed into Beedrill. As soon as the attack landed Beedrill pulled up his stingers, slamming them into Umbreon's soft skin. It pierced, going though and injecting deadly toxins into the dark type fox.

Umbreon jumped back, breathing hard as Beedrill fell to the ground, knocked out.

"It looks like Umbreon was able to battle and defeat the flying bug!" The announcer said. "Kyle will have to come up with better strategies than type advantage to win this fight!"

I recalled Beedill and thought to myself. _It's weakened, but that poison wont set in and do any real damage unless I can make it move. It has be trained well, it knows to stay in one spot when it's poisoned. Blood circulation makes the toxins travel through the body faster. _

"So, if its speed I need, I might as well go with the type advantage as well." I grabbed another pokeball off my belt. "Go Scizor!"

In the dark room was the first time I noticed something about my Scizor that had never crossed my mind before. In that darkness shined a red ring around the joints in Scizor's claws. Each had looked like it had a pair of eyes. They moved, almost like a Kecleon, It was weird, intimidating, and even confusing.

Without a command Scizor began to creep up on Umbreon in the dark, moving his arms back and forth, almost like a snake. Umbreon tried to focus on him, but instead was brought back to those pair of red, evil eyes. They moved, twisted and turned.

"Now!" I screamed, when I saw he was close enough to launch an attack.

"Umbreon!" Karen yelled. "Move!" But to no avail. Umbreon stood there, tantalized by the red eyes that were looking at it. They moved up, into the sky, pulling away from each other when they began to form a small yellow glimmer in front of them. In an instant the X-Scissor attack was over, and Umbreon was thrown into a tree behind it.

"What a show!" The announcer called out.

"Its not over yet." I murmured as I saw the yellow rings on Umbreon begin to move. It stood up, shaking off the sand and dirt from the attack as it looked back to Scizor.

"Scizor!" I said. "You don't have to hit it, just tire it out!"

Karen pushed some of her long light blue hair away from her eyes as she looked down at the Umbreon sternly. "Last Resort."

"Iron Head!"

Umbreon began to shake all over; the poison was setting in. It opened its red eyes, screaming as it enclosed itself in a yellow sphere. Scizor took off like a bullet. He knew that right then was the only moment he had to attack. He stiffened his neck, focusing his energy on his exoskeleton skull as he flew at the erupting finishing move. A split second before Scizor could reach the dark fox, it released the attack. The Last Resort shot out like a beam of light. It hit Scizor at point blank, but he pushed on. He flew right into the blast, cutting the energy into as he passed through the yellow shield, executing his Iron Head attack.

Umbreon was thrown backwards hard, smacking into a tree and splintering it. The yellow rings on its body began to fade, until they were not visible any more. It was knocked out.

"After the second pokemon Kyle was finally able to take down Karen's Umbreon." The announcer called out over the crowd. "But this battle has left Scizor with some very serious injuries."

"How can he see that?" I squinted my eyes, trying to see what was going on down there when Pichu pulled on my hair.

"Pi. Pi, cha." He said, pointing up to the left hand side of the field.

"Huh?" I questioned as I looked over to that location. In the air, facing the audience was one of the floating televisions, and it was showing a green looking picture. It was only a few seconds when I realized what it was, even though it was very hard to see from this angle. "They have night vision cameras on us?"

"Of course." Karen yelled to me.

I jumped a little. _How can she hear that well? _

"Oh," she answered back. "Its just a trick I picked up from my Grandmothers ghost pokemon."

"A ghost taught you to read minds?" I asked, confused. "Isn't that a psychic types thing?"

"No, child." She said, tilting her head back. "I do not possess telepathy powers. My dark and ghost type pokemon have taught me how to see without sight. I can fell with out touching, and I can hear without listening."

I stood there, pondering about this for a moment before I spoke again. "Are you a pinball wizard?"

"What?" She jumped. "No! I'm not! And that was a horrible pun! My pokemon have taught me to read souls and emotions."

I looked back down to the field, Scizor was gasping for air, and I could see that his arms were hanging low. He was hurt, and bad. I then focused my thoughts on Karen. _So she cant read minds, if she could then she would have known that I was going to say that, or could have figured that I was trying to come up with something stupid like that to say. That means that she doesn't regard me as one that is stupid, or one to make mistakes. Obviously I can't trick her with these dumb phrases. She read my emotions wrong, and there for she can be tricked. No matter what, if someone relies on something too much, they will always get let down. So, the trick with this is to lead her on a wild goose chase with my emotions and then nip this battle in the butt. _

"I see, so you are formulating a plan, are you?" Karen asked. "Figuring out the next battle that is to come?"

"I just have one question," I asked.

"Go ahead." Karen smiled, holding up her next pokeball.

I paused again, acting so confused. "What do you do when you live in a shoe and you aint got no soul?"

Everything went quiet for a moment as I felt a sweat drop drip down over my head. _I can't believe I just said that… on national TV… with fans and news crews around…_

"I…" Karen spoke as she threw out her pokeball. "Am going to enjoy casting you into eternal darkness. Go Murkrow!"

The black bird was quick to vanish into the darkness, and even quicker to attack.

"Sciz!" Scizor screamed as the Wing Attack knocked him to the ground.

"Scizor!" I called to him. "Slash!"

Scizor raised up, beaten and battered as he swung his arm around, trying to slash at something that he couldn't even see. The bird attacked again, this time hitting Scizor in the leg. His knee hit the ground as he groaned, putting a pincher down for support against a tree.

"Sucker Punch." Karen smiled

"Iron Head!" I called out.

The bird flew in, swinging its wing into Scizor's face for the final blow when Scizor's head began to get a glimmer. The Iron Head attack was activated. Murkrow swung this wing, striking the Iron Head attack with all of its might. The bird then tumbled end over end and landed on the ground. It got up, shook its body as it tried to fly, but just fell back over. Its wing was bent backwards, broke, as it struggled to fly again.

"Do not fret over that wing!" Karen scolded. "End this with Foul Play!"

"Scizor!" I screamed. "Its down, it's not moving! Use X-Scissor!"

Scizor, still breathing hard, tried to stand. He used his pincer as a brace as he leaned against a tree, bring himself to his feet. He slowly walked over to the bird, whom was flapping and squawking on the ground. He stood over it, looking down as he raised his pincers up into the air.

Suddenly Murkrow spun around, knocking Scizor's feet out from under him with its wing. Scizor fell backwards as the bird then flopped over to a nearby tree. It swung its wing, making a Wing Attack that slashed through the trunk, and then caused the tree to fall. I saw Scizor's eyes open as the tree was falling, heading right for him.

"Return!" I screamed, recalling Scizor right before he was smashed by the falling tree.

"Now." Karen said. "Roost."

Murkrow stopped flailing and put out both of its wings as it stretched them wide. Over the crowd I could hear the bird's bone pop and crack as it went back in place. It screamed as a purple sphere formed around it.

"Now." I said, looking to Pichu. "This is your time bud. I need you to take down that bird."

"Pi." Pichu nodded.

"Use Quick Attack to get over there, and then Volt Tackle to knock it out before it gets done." It was then that I held up a pokeball, _Umbreon's to be exact._ Pichu was confused as he looked at me, and I could tell what he was thinking; _"I thought I was going out there?"_

"Go!" I said, looking at him sternly.

"Pi!" he jumped as he ran down the backside of the podium and into the shrubbery.

_Now,_ I thought, looking back to Karen. _Back to my plan._

"Hmmm…" she looked at me as I stared into the pokeball I held in my hand.

"With a quick last minute move Karen has pulled ahead." The announcer said. "The score is 2 on 1 with Karen in the lead. Will Kyle be able to pick up the slack? I wonder what his next pokemon will be?"

"You are wasting valuable time thinking about throwing out that Umbreon." Karen spoke to me. "You realize that if my Murkrow becomes fully healed you haven't a chance to win?"

"But," I looked back at her, seeing some bushes move to the right of me in the dim red light. "I just want to beat you at your best." I lied, trying to put on a genuine expression.

I saw her eyebrow raise as she looked at me.

_Crap, she's catching on._ I then looked back down to my pokeball. _Hurry up Pichu._

As if on cue the field was taken up by a burst of yellow light. Sparks bounced around the trees and walls as Pichu bolted like lighting over to Murkrow who was still charging up. The Volt Tackle hit, crashing Murkrow into the wall far behind it. The bird then fell over, to the ground, knocked out.

"Amazing!" The announcer called. "Kyle was able to release a pokemon without us even knowing! Now that is some very crafty maneuvering!"

"You little…" Karen fumed as she recalled her dark bird. "You have been playing me as a fool, havent you?"

_Uh ho… not good, she's catching on. _"Pichu?" I questioned.

"Pi?" Pichu turned to look at me, confused once more.

"How did…" I pointed behind me, "And then you…" I pointed to him, "And now you're…?"

"Pi-cha-chu?" He turned around to face me, tilting his head as he began to think. "Pi-chu?" he shook his head, becoming confused.

"Enough!" Karen said as eh grabbed a pokeball from her belt. "This ends, now!" She threw out the pokeball, but in the darkness, nothing was visible. It was almost like the pokemon was darkness itself. It was actually quite creepy. Out of nowhere I started to hear breathing, heavy breathing, almost like it was on my back.

"This feels too familiar." I said, looking around.

Pichu was looking around as well, but not with the same concern I was, he was scared. The little mouse had his ears pulled down behind his head, shaking as he nervously looked around the dark, still room.

"GENN! GAR!" The shadow in front of him screamed as two red eyes appeared.

Pichu stood there, scared stiff as the shadow formed into a monstrous Gengar. The ghost pokemon opened its mouth, drool dripping on the ground as the saliva turned into souls that floated into the air. It then grew sharp teeth that looked like fangs, as it opened its mouth wider, like it was going to eat the little mouse whole.

"PI!" Pichu screamed as he shot off a Thunder attack into the ghost's mouth. Gengar fell backwards as Pichu began to run full speed back to my podium. He ran up the pole, scurrying onto my stage as he ran and jumped right in my book bag. "PICHU!" He screamed, shaking as he zipped up the book bag and concealed himself inside.

"Gen" Gengar said as he rocked himself back to his feet. He then spit on the ground, once again causing miniature looking soul things to rise into the air. "Gen-gar." He grinned a toothy grin.

"Just the sight of the mighty ghost pokemon was enough to scare the poor little Pichu back to its trainer!" The announcer said as the audience laughed. "Because Pichu refuses to fight, that means he is now disqualified! That leaves the score Karen 3 and Kyle 2. Each has only three more pokemon to defeat."

"Well I think you did great, Pichu." I said with a smile as I looked back to the field. "You did just what I wanted you to. Now its Umbreon's turn. Go!" I screamed, throwing out the pokeball. Umbreon's yellow rings pulsated on the field as he then vanished into some bushes, concealing himself.

"Kyle's choice is Umbreon. It looks like his is still going with the type advantage" The announcer said. "But keep in mind, up until this point Kyle has only been using pokemon that are new to his party. This Umbreon has been with Kyle since his battle last year with the Elite Four. And if I am not mistaken it was this Umbreon that won over Agatha's Gengar, the very same Gengar that is on the field right now."

"Yeah." I commented as I focused on the field. "This is sure to be one epic battle once again."


	35. The Light at the End

**Chapter 34**

**The Light at the End**

"Sucker Punch!" Karen screamed.

Gengar came down from the sky, fist glowing with a red haze as it punched at Umbreon. Umbreon jumped at the last minute, flying into the air as the ghost made a crater where Umbreon just was.

"Shadow Ball!" I commanded while Umbreon was over Gengar. The ball shot out, but Gengar vanished, falling into the ground under it. Umbreon landed on the ground, looking around frantically as he tried to find the ghost. Suddenly two hands grabbed onto his front feet. He looked down and the ground began to crumble as Gengar rose up, almost like out of a grave.

"Sand Attack!" I yelled. With that Umbreon kicked his back legs forward, causing dust and dirt to go into Gengar's eyes. Gengar flinched, releasing Umbreon as it grabbed its eyes and turned invisible again, making the dirt and dust fall from its body.

"Once again, a narrow escape!" The announcer called out. "This has been one of the most epic battles this arena has ever seen! Nearly ten minutes into this battle and not one pokemon has landed an attack. Each one evading just before impact. How long will these pokemon last?"

Umbreon suddenly jumped sidewise, pushing his claws into the ground as Gengar reappeared where he previously was. Gengar pushed its hands together, forming a sparking black ball in the gap. Umbreon shot out another Shadow Ball, cutting through the ghost pokemon's attack as Gengar vanished again, making its attack fizzle out. The Shadow Ball passed through the fading image of the ghost pokemon and into the tree behind it.

Umbreon took a fighting stance, looking around the darkened room for the pokemon. Suddenly a bush moved behind him. He jumped, shooting out another Shadow Ball from instinct, but there was nothing there.

"GAR!" Gengar snarled as he appeared behind Umbreon.

"Nightmare!" Karen commanded.

Umbreon spun around in time to see Gengar fly after him with its fist held out, passing straight though his body.

"Ooonn!" Umbreon cried out in pain as Gengar laughed.

"Bite!" I screamed. With that Umbreon bit down hard on Gengar's exposed face.

"Gar!" The ghost wailed as it reached its hand up by instinct. In the split second of recoil Umbreon leaped back, putting distance between him and the ghost.

Umbreon was breathing hard, one eye closed, and his legs barely able to keep him off the ground. _Whatever that attack was really did him in. it was almost like it went straight into his soul. _

Gengar scratched at its face, and then turned to look at Umbreon. "Gen-en-en- gar!" It laughed. It picked up one foot, slamming it on the ground as it turned to face Umbreon. It then laughed again, slamming another foot down as it made its way closer to the dark fox.

"Last Resort!" I screamed.

"Focus Blast!" Karen yelled.

Both pokemon began to scream, yelling as the attacks formed. Umbreon focused all of his energy into the purple sphere that formed around him, while Gengar once again put his hands together to form a dark, sparking ball. It, however, released first.

The Focus Blast shot out, and in fear, Umbreon cast his attack prematurely. The Last Resort attack flew for Gengar, but the Focus Blast passed through it like it wasn't even there. Both attacks hit their targets. Umbreon was thrown backwards into a wall, and Gengar into a tree. They both fell, but only one rose back up.

"Gen… Gar." Gengar spoke, out of breath and badly hurt as he struggled to stand.

"Gengar has taken down the fox pokemon Umbreon!" The announcer spoke as I recalled Umbreon to his pokeball. "In the most drawn out battle I have ever seen Umbreon was finally taken down. This leaves the count at Karen 4 and Kyle 2!"

"Alright, that thing is almost out." I smiled. "And thanks to Bill I know that after Gengar is gone she has Vileplume and Houndoom." I touched the pokeball on my necklace as I saw Karen look at me with a smile. _No… _I thought to myself. _She knows… I cant let her get a foot hold, if I do then this battle is already over. If I let her in my head then she has already won._

"Gyarados!" I screamed as I threw out his pokeball.

The ball flew out, and the serpent slithered onto the field. He glanced over, looking at the nearly knocked out Gengar gasping for air.

"Hyper Beam!" I commanded.

"Gengar!" Karen looked at him. "Now!"

Gyarados opened his mouth, forming the blast as Gengar stood there, not making a move. The beam shot out, crashing into its target, and passing straight through it. Gyarados looked at the fading figure he shot, and then looked up to the roof, seeing the ghost pokemon falling down on top of him. Gyarados screamed as the ghost passed through him and then laughed.

"Gar-Gar-Gar!" It laughed and pointed, making Gyarados mad. In his rage he formed another Hyper Beam and shot it at Gengar, point-blank. The attack hit, and this time throwing Gengar across the field, knocked out. But then, Gyarados started wailing. He tossed his body around the arena, slamming it into trees, and then the wall, until he passed out as well.

"What just happened?" I asked, jaw dropped. Shortly I was answered, and by the person that I gave the least credit to.

"What a show!" The announcer called out. "Gengar was able to take down a third pokemon with his Destiny Bond attack!"

"Destiny Bond?" I asked myself, replaying what had just happened in my head. _Gengar passed through Gyarados. At that moment it must had bonded with Gyarados, creating a merge between the two. So when it passed out so did Gyarados._

"With one pokemon Karen was able to wipe out half of Kyle's whole team. The score is now 3 to 5 with Karen in the lead. Kyle has two more pokemon to defeat, but can he do it with only one pokemon left?"

"Looks like I'm going to have to." I said with a smile. "Hey, Karen." I yelled.

"Yes?" She answered.

"You may have the honor." I motioned, waving my hand to the field.

"Hmph," She grunted. "Fine." The pokeball flew onto the field, and in the dim lit room a pink light was present. Little pokadots were glowing on its pedals, and a light mist seem to be raising off of its body.

"Vileplume is the next pokemon of choice for Karen," The announcer said. "I wonder what pokemon Kyle will choose to battle this fierce plant type?"

"The only one I have left." I said, grabbing the pokeball off my necklace. "Go!" With a toss the red light formed into the large pokemon that already started to make a name for himself.

"Rrraaaaaaa!" Arcanine roared. He then lowered his head, snarling as embers fell from his mouth like drool. In the dark room you could see the flames building in his mouth. Red light flickered and burnt as the embers touched fallen leaves, catching them on fire. The small fire only caught the leaves that were on the ground, and then fizzled out.

"Pedal dance!" Karen commanded.

"Heat Wave!" I said.

Vileplume began to shake violently, and then spouted out leaves from the opening in its stem. Arcanine simply let out a low growl, and then covered himself in a protective dome of fire. In the dark room the light was like an enormous torch, lighting the entire arena. It was then that I was able to see the pokemon that I was up against, and in any other circumstance, I think I would have had some trouble out of it. It stood nearly six foot tall, only a foot or two shy from Arcanine, and had pedals that were scarred and frayed. _This Vileplume is nearly double the size it should be, and all those scars. It looks like it was in more battles than anything should ever be in._ The leaves shot out from Vilepule, heading towards Arcanine, but as soon as they hit the fire dome, they disintegrated. "Hmph." I smiled, confident in Arcanine.

"Vileplume!" Karen said. "Acid."

"Flamethrower!" I commanded.

Arcanine lowered his fire shield, and before Vileplume could build up the toxins need for the attack, Arcanine had already silenced the plant. The flames from the attack burned the leaves that were left over on the ground, and knocked Vileplume out cold. It was burnt all over, smoking even, but nothing else in the arena was harmed. _Arcanine's flames are very precise. If he wanted to, he could even light a match from 100 feet away. But that was what I have been training him on since he was a little pup. Shooting those pop cans many years ago helped us both out more than we could ever imagine. _

"The mighty Vileplume is out!" The announcer spoke as the crowd cheered. "This has become a one on one fight. Both trainers are down to their last pokemon." Karen then huffed, throwing out her last pokeball. The ball opened, and Houndoom stood on the field.

"Arrr…" Arcanine growled, lowering to the ground.

_Oh man, I forgot, Arcanine hates a Houndoom more than anything._ I then thought to myself about my past. My mother, my brother, my horrible life that I ran away from. _I guess I can't blame him. Childhood trauma is hard to overcome. _

"Oh my folks!" The announcer spoke again. "It looks as though Karen has put out her Houndoom! This fire pokemon is the strongest fire type that the Johto League has to offer! Will Kyle's legendary Arcanine be able to stand up to the heat? Or will it have to leave the cooking to Karen?"

"Flamethrower!" We both said in unison.

The dark room was quickly cast in a red haze. The fire attacks both hit their targets, and then grew exponentially. The flames began to bounce off of the pokemon, striking the trees and catching them ablaze. The arena was on fire. The trees were falling, crackling and popping, and smoke was filling the stadium. Fans kicked on, taking the smoke out of the stage and pumping it outside.

"Enough!" Karen said.

"Stop!" I commanded.

Both pokemon then stopped. Arcanine slowly began to walk around the arena, head down low with his back arched. Houndoom did the same, both of them keeping the same distance away from each other. The trees were still on fire. The stage was dark, lit only by the light of the burning field.

"It seems as though both our pokemon have Flash Fire ability." Karen said, and then laughed. "So that is where your Arcanine gets its power from?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Fire types with Flash Fire abilities are rare. It means that your Arcanine will only get stronger every time it encounters another fire type. Or when it catches itself on fire."

"Well, if yours has it too then we better use other types of attacks, shouldn't we?" I smiled.

"Right you are. Houndoom! Crunch!"

"Use Extreme Speed to evade!" I called out to Arcanine.

Houndoom ran after Arcanine, fangs bared as Arcanine took off like a bullet. Houndoom bit down hard on where Arcanine was, but it only bit air. It then glared as it turned its head, seeing Arcanine on the far side of the room.

"Raa!" Houndoom roared as it ran after Arcanine again. At the last second Arcanine vanished, using Extreme Speed to evade the attack again, but this time only moving by a few feet. Houndoom tilted its head, looking up to see the massive dog looking back down at it. In one quick move Arcanine placed one of his paws on Houndoom, pinning it to the ground as he bit down on its neck. Houndoom whined in pain as Arcanine picked it up and threw it across the field.

Houndoom tumbled end over end and then slammed into a burning tree. His neck was bleeding, but as pieces of embers fell on it, his skin began to heal. _I suppose that's what Karen meant by growing stronger with fire. _Houndoom stood up, shaking its head as it looked around for Arcanine, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.

"Below!" Karen said. At the last possible moment Houndoom leaped into the air right before the ground crumbled underneath of it. Out of the crater Arcanine sprang, leaping after Houndoom. He caught up to it, latching onto its leg as they began to fall back to the field.

"Hyper Beam!" Karen commanded.

The attack launched, and being in the air, and at close range, Arcanine couldn't dodge. The attack hit, knocked Arcanine off and sending him slamming into the ground. Dust flew up over the arena, and the crowd went silent. When the dust settled there was Arcanine, laying on the ground, not moving.

The ref held up one hand, signaling a count down. 5….

"Get up!" I screamed.

4…

"Arcanine!" I screamed. "Arcanine! Buddy!"

3…

"You cant let this mutt beat you!"

2…

"A Houndoom…"

Suddenly Arcanine opened his eyes and shot out a flamethrower attack into the air above ref. The ref stopped counting down, watching as Arcanine began to struggle to stand.

"Amazing!" The announcer said. "Despite taking the most powerful attack known to date, this fire type beast wont stay down!"

_Arcanine is almost out. One more hit and he's gone… _"Arcanine!" I screamed. "You don't need to use your power to beat him." I saw Arcanine look at me strange. "As long as he gets KNOCKED OUT…"

"Houndoom." Karen said. "Why don't you go enjoy this?"

Houndoom chuckled as it walked over to Arcanine, snorting fire the whole time. It then bared its fangs, growling as it attacked. Houndoom sunk its teeth in deep into Arcanines neck.

"Arrr!" Arcanine cried out in pain, but then slammed his head on the ground, causing Houndoom to flip over. Arcanine then quickly put one of his paws on the dogs throat, and put pressure down hard. Houndoom released Arcanine's neck, struggling to move and get away, be it couldn't. Arcanine held it down, cutting off the oxygen flow until the dog stopped moving. When Houndoom went still, Arcanine released it. It rolled over, gasped for air, and stayed on the ground, not moving.

The ref started the count down. Those five seconds seemed to last forever. 5… 4. 3… 2…

"Get up!" Karen screamed.

1!

"That's it!" The announcer called out. "That's it! Its over! We now have a new champion! Kyle Gray has won the Johto League!"

We both recalled our pokemon as the stadium roof opened once again. The light was blinding, but it was then that I realized how much damage two fire type pokemon could really cause. The field was charred black all the way down to the concrete that held it together.

The podiums lowered, and the crowd was going wild. People were screaming and before long I was already walking over to Karen. _I was in such a trance that I almost didn't realize what was going on. This is what I wanted. This is why I do it. The feeling of actually doing something!_ I heard my book bag unzip, and out on my shoulder came Pichu, wearing his biker jacket and goggles on his head.

I smiled, looking at him as we walked. _What am I talking about? I didn't do anything. It was my pokemon. All I did was sit back and watch, they were the ones that did all the work._

"It was a very eventful battle." Karen said as she looked at me. "I am proud to have battled a worthy opponent."

"I am sorry Karen." I said as I shook her hand.

"What for?"

"I was bluffing you the whole time. I was trying to hide my attacks from you, confuse you. In a way I was lying to you. I'm sorry."

"Kyle." She said with a laugh. "You did what you had to do to win." She then turned. "Follow me."

"Umm okay, why?" I asked, tailing behind her as we walked away from the screaming fans.

"We have to get your registered," She smiled.

"Karen…" I spoke. "I have a question."

"Yes?"

"How is that you obtained your grandmothers Gengar?" There was a long pause. "In fact, I have always wondered, how can someone even catch a ghost pokemon?"

"Kyle, how many ghost trainers have you met?"

"I, um… don't know… not many… four, five tops? Why?"

Karen didn't say anything for a while. "Ghost pokemon are rare. Very rare. In fact, to be perfectly honest, no one has ever captured a ghost pokemon. At least, not truly captured one."

"But, how can that be?" I asked, looking at her pokeballs on the belt she wore.

"I know what your thinking, and no I did not capture this Gengar." There was another pause. "Kyle, I am going to tell you something that has been ghost pokemon trainers most prized secret. Few people in the world know of this, and I feel that you should be one of them.

"Ghost pokemon are created when a trainer dies, and the bond that the trainer has with their pokemon are so strong that the pokemon die as well. But they don't die of the same circumstances the trainer does. Instead, they die from grief."

"That's sad." I said.

"Its not over." Karen continued. "Normally when a pokemon dies they realize they died. Such as when one dies in a battle, or one dies of old age. The pokemon realized they are dead and ascend to the after life. Ghost pokemon never go through this stage. When they die they die in grief, and they don't realize what had happened. They become blinded. A soul trapped in our dimension. Because of this they seek out a person that has a similar characteristic to their trainer."

"In other words, a person with a similar soul?" I asked.

"Correct. Even when the ghost pokemon finds the trainer, the trainer doesn't really capture it. Instead the ghost invades the person, thinking that it is supposed to be there. The ghost purposefully has the trainer catch it.

"Another thing about ghost types is their power. The more death that a ghost pokemon has seen, the stronger it becomes. It may take many generations for a ghost pokemon to evolve, but to them it is as though time itself stands still."

"So how does a ghost pokemon… well…"

"Die?" Karen asked, finishing my question. "A ghost pokemon never dies, in a sense. Instead, it ascends. Only when a ghost pokemon realizes that it has died, then it can finally cope with the loss, and be reunited with its friends in the afterlife."

"So you said that a ghost pokemon tries to find people like its original trainer, who share a similar being?" I asked. "If that's so then how can a person have more than one ghost?"

Karen paused with a smile, and then asked me the same question. "You tell me. How?"

"If I were to guess it would be because they have two different personalities?" Karen nodded, so I continued. "Which would mean that they are…"

"Generally insane or schizophrenic."

"That would explain some things…" I said under my breath, thinking back to Morty and how he acted so flip-floppy on everything.

"Here we are." She said as she pushed open two giant double doors. "The room of champions." Inside the room was nothing but a computer. That's it, just a regular computer with a pokeball hook up attached to it.

"Just place your pokeballs here," She said, patting the contraption hooked to the computer. "And your pokemon will be registered. "And your trainer card, here." She then pointed to the card insert on the main tower of the device.

"Alright." I said, taking them all and laying them on the reader, and sliding in my card.

"Pi?" Pichu asked, looking at his pokeball.

"Don't worry," I said with a smile. "It's like last time, remember? You'll still get your name in the book."

The screen flashed, and then began to bring up images of the pokemon in my party.

"_Arcanine: Level 80. Pichu: Level 50. Pidgeot: Level 61. Gyarados: Level 57. Umbreon: Level 62. Dragonite: Level 72. Typhlosion: Level 43. Kabutops: Level 46. Scizor: Level 70. Beedrill: Level 65."_

"Yep." I smiled. "That's all the ones I used."

***_-Scene Change-_***

The audience members were all outside now, standing around the front gate to the arena. Street vendors were all over the place, setting up all kinds of little trinkets and knick-knacks in their booths. _"Buy your Johto Gym Badges here!"_ one said, _"Pokeball seals over here!"_ spoke another, _"Authentic Kyle Gray accessories!" _screamed a person selling some chewed up gum and other items he pulled out of the dumpster earlier that day. The vendors quickly turned the audience into customers, but in reality they were not there to buy plastic junk, or some half eaten pizza that was 'ate by Kyle'.

"We are here, live, where just behind us Kyle Gray of Kanto's Viridian City was just crowned the Johto League Pokemon Champion." A news anchor said to the cameraman as she stood in front of the arena. She was wearing a gray pin-striped suit with skirt, long brown hair in a pony tail, and heels that made her stand three inches taller than she should be. "The young man fought through trainers, gyms, and the ever legendary Johto Elite Four. Not only that, but he has already made the record books once, for completing his first Pokemon League just one year ago. That is right, this Kyle Gray is the same boy who competed and won last years Kanto Pokemon League." She then looked over to her right and saw a teenage girl smacking some gum and wearing a 'I (heart) Kyle Gray' t-shirt. "Lets see what some of the fans think about this turn out." The news lady then motioned the camera over to the girl. "Excuse me ma'am?" She said. The teenage girl immediately turned around. "Could you tell us what you think about the turn out in today's championship?" The news lady then handed the girl the microphone she was carrying.

"Like, Oh My Gosh!" The girl screamed. "Like, Kyle was totally awesome! Like, I knew he was going to win!"

"So, you are a Kyle fan?" The news anchor asked.

"Like yeah!" The girl then looked right at the camera. "I have every item that has ever been sold of Kyle's, even this!" She then stuck out her tongue, holding the chewed up piece of gum that she just bought off of the street vender. She then stuck it back in her mouth.

"Wow… that's umm…" The news anchor then looked back to the camera, confused and grossed out. "That is some true dedication there! Ha… ha…" she then motioned the cut throat, killing the camera. "Cut, cut… That's enough footage. Lets save it for when Kyle comes out."

"When do you think that will be?" The cameraman asked. "It's been close to an hour since the match ended. Surely he would be out by now."

"I don't know." She turned, looking at the sky over the arena. She saw clouds start to form, and sparkles falling towards the ground. She looked closer, and noticed that it wasn't sparkles at all, but light reflecting off of snowflakes that were coming from the sky. "What weird weather." She commented. "Its not even fall yet."

"Should I get this on film?"

"No, save it for the good stuff." She then stuck out her tongue at the thought of recording snow. "Yuck, that's the last thing I want to be. A weather announcer."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Are you sure that you want to leave off the roof?" Karen asked as we stood on the safety railing on top of the arena. Pichu was hanging onto my green jacket tight, making sure not to fall. The roof was open, and I could see the empty field, now covered in craters and cindering ashes.

"Yeah." I said, looking over the other ledge. Below hundreds of people gathered around the front gate, waiting for me to make my appearance.

"Any reason?" She asked, leaning over the edge.

"Hmph." I smiled as I held up Articuno's pokeball. "I just hate cameras, really. There is no other reason than that." I then spun the pokeball on my finger, opening my hand and catching it mid cycle.

"If you are positive." She then turned away to walk down the stairs. "Kyle? I know Bruno already asked you, but if you ever want to be a member of the Elite Four…"

"Don't worry." I smiled. "If I ever consider it, this league will be the first to know."

She turned to look at me, smiling as she paused in a half step movement. She then closed her eyes, turning as her light blue hair blew in the wind. "See you around, Mr. Gray."

I waited until she was out of sight before I made my move. "Are you ready, bud?" I asked as Pichu nodded. The pokeball flew from my hand, and in the red light the blue sparkling bird fluttered in the air. Her feathers, so cold that mist was rising from them, were glistening in the sunlight. It wasn't long until clouds began to form under her, making snow fall from the peak of the building.

"_Congratulations."_ Articuno spoke.

"Thank you," I said, putting one foot on the railing as she turned around, back facing me.

"_I was congratulating Pichu." _Articuno answered back. _"You did nothing but command pokemon."_

I sat on her back as I gave her a pat. "That is true." I smiled. "I know that I always take the credit, but you guys are the real winners here. And I promise, I'll make it up to you."

Articuno turned to look at me as we fluttered in the air. _"What are you planning?"_

"Haha!" I laughed. "What are you talking about?"

"_I sense you are hiding something from me. Something that you refuse to think about."_

"Don't worry about it." I smiled, pointing to the training ground behind the champion suite. "Take us over there, land in the trees so no one will see."

"_Is this part of the 'surprise'?"_ She asked as we took off, heading above the clouds to avoid detection of the fans that had gathered all over the Indigo Plateau.

"No, its not. I told you, don't worry about it." I then frowned. "I honestly don't know if you will even like it. I just thought it would be nice." I noticed her eye glance over to me. Those soft blue eyes were mesmerizing. Beautiful. It was like stars, in an empty night sky, or like snow flakes, falling onto a dark blue ocean that never stopped moving. It was almost as beautiful as… Shonna's eyes. Those eyes that I have missed for so long.

"_Thank you."_ Articuno said, turning away. _"A word of advice though. Next time you see 'her', you should tell her that… not me."_

***_-Scene Change-_***

I waited for the snow to stop before I emerged from the old training ground. The dirt ring was very overrun. Weeds shot up in several places, shrubs grown around the path, and trees limbs littered the rim of the ring.

"Pi?" Pichu asked as I sat down my bag. I reached inside, grabbing an item holder and releasing the contents on the ground. Inside were my jacket, helmet and gloves, which I began to put on. Pichu already knew what was going on and immediately jumped head first into the open bag. He dug all the way down to the bottom, throwing out items and pokeballs until he emerged wearing his goggles and jacket. "Pi! Cha!" He said, giving the 'V' sign for victory.

"Ahh, Pichu…" I groaned, looking at all the items tossed across the ground.

"Pi?" He tilted his head.

I smiled, "Oh, never mind." I bent down and began picking up the items. One by one they were placed back into the bag, until I got to the Pokefute. I picked it up, holding it in my hand as I thought back to when I first got that old thing._ I remember Shonna playing it, attempting to wake up the grumpy ol' Snorlax, but to no avail. I wasn't much better, but I remembered playing an old recorder back in elementary school. The teacher was teaching us how to play, "Mary had a little Mareep". I never liked that song, so I came up with my own tune. That tune was the only one I knew how to play._ _I played it, and Snorlax must had hated it so much that it awoke with a vengeance. But it did impress Shonna…_

I finished putting the rest of the items up, but held that and my bike capsule in my hand. I placed the flute to my lips, and began to play. It squeaked, and wasn't very pleasant, but those old recorder lessons came back to me. Before long a tune came out, the one that I had learned so many years ago.

_Do, Do-da-do, Do-Do, Do da-do, Da-Da_do._

I saw Pichu's ears move as he listened contently, so I continued. Suddenly the ground began to shake, and in confusion I turned around. Behind me I noticed the trees shaking, and some kind of roaring.

"This cant be good…"

Out from the greenery came a whole herd of Ursaring. "Raa!" They roared and screamed, shooting out Hyper Beam attacks into the air as they stampeded our way.

"Ahhhh!" Pichu and I screamed as I grabbed him up in my arms, slinging my bag on as I ran. I threw the capsule as far as I could. It hit the ground, opening up into the motorcycle nearly ten yards ahead of me. I turned my head as I ran; the Ursaring were gaining, and quick. I jumped on the bike, pushing the safety switches as I hit the ignition, and like a streak of light, we were off.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Okay, really Kyle?" Bill said as I shoved him out the door of the Champion Lodge. "Why is there such an urgent need to depart so soon?" Bill had just returned from the league, and hadn't even had time to pack all of his clothes up. He had his computer, which is really all that he needed, but he was hoping to say a little bit longer. _I think._

"Well," I commented back. "You know how I hate cameras?"

"Yeah?" He answered, standing on the porch as I locked up the lodge.

"Well, lets just say that there's going to be a lot of cameras coming this way, very soon."

"Why?" Bill continued, until he stepped off the porch and looked out to the training grounds. There was smoke raising up into the air, and Hyper Beam attacks shooting off like spotlights into the sky. Bill then turned to me, jaw dropped. "What did you do?"

"Sorry," I said as I yanked off the pokeball attached to my belt, "But I will explain everything later!" I released the ball, and in a red light Pidgeot appeared in front of Bill.

"Craa!" She cried, pushing her head between Bills legs and throwing him on her back.

"Whah!" He latched on to her as I threw out Dragonite. "Cant we just-"

"No time!" I cut him off. "Bill, hang on! Lets go you two, head…" I looked around, and pointed south east. "That way, and step on it!"

"What?" Bill asked as Pidgeot and Dragonie squatted, getting ready to take off. "Why would we be go-O-AHHHHH!" He screamed, hanging onto Pidgeot as we soared through the air.

Dragonite took off fast. In the sudden jolt I felt my broken rib move. "Arrggg…" I groaned, holding on to Dragonite tight, knowing that if I let go I would fall. Pichu and I were still wearing out biker outfits, but it was lucky for me, because of all the bugs that were landing on the visor of my helmet. I turned my head, looking behind me to see Bill screaming his heart out as Pidgeot bounced her head around, catching and eating bugs that flew their way.

I felt Pichu unzip my bag as he scurried up my shoulder and onto my helmet. "Pi-CHU!" He screamed out, holding up one hand as we flew through the air. _At this rate we will reach Pewter City in about thirty minutes. Why Pewter? I don't know, perhaps because it is the closest place? But it doesn't really matter._ I then lowered my eyes, focusing them on the scales on Dragonite's back. "I just need to focus on what's going to happen next."

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Fan-flippin-tastic, Kyle." Bill said as we both entered into the Pokecenter in Pewter City. It was about 2:00, and the center was full of people watching the TV. We came in unnoticed, and because of that we were able to walk around the crowd of people. "Can you now inform me on why we left the league so soon?"

I looked over my shoulder at the TV, seeing a news broadcast with the headlines of_ 'Raging Ursaring'._ "You wanna know why?" I then pointed my thumb to the television. "Watch that." Bill turned his body to face the news station, and then listened contently.

"It seems that the enraged herd of Ursaring have finally been calmed." The news station broadcaster said. "We now go to our news anchor on the scene, Heather Corveck. Heather, how is the situation there?" The camera then changed to a news lady, whom was standing in front of the training grounds at the league.

"Thank you." Heather started off. "Right after the match with the new champion Kyle Gray, the training grounds at the Indigo Plateau was attacked by a raging group of Ursaring. The wild pokemon were soothed by the psychic abilities of the leagues own collection of Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam. The damage dealt to the training grounds is currently uncalculated, and officials say that there is no sign that this was intended. There were no injuries, but there was significant amount of equipment that was destroyed in the rampage. The league's construction team head says it will take them the majority of the year to finish repairs." Bill turned to face me again, wide eyed and jaw dropped. "Kyle Gray, the new pokemon champion, has not made his appearance yet from the arena. Elite Four member, Karen, made her appearance moments ago. She said that Kyle Gray left from the roof of the arena. Knowing Kyle's dislike of attention, some fans believe this to be a ploy to disperse the crowd. The truth behind his location is still a mystery."

"What a right fine mess you got me into, again." Bill said as he walked back to me.

"Oh calm down," I smiled, walking over to the front counter. "You heard what they said, 'no sign that this was intended."

During our argument Nurse Joy walked around the counter from the back. We stopped talking as we both looked at her. She stared at me, then at the TV, then back to me. "Hello Mr. Gray." She said with a smile. "I never expected to see you here." It was then that some of the twenty or so people that were in the pokecenter turned around to us. I turned to face them, and in that moment, it was like the calm before the storm. Instantly we were both swarmed.

"Oh my gosh!" One person ran up to me. "I never thought I would see 'The' Kyle Gray!"

"Really, I'm not that-" I half heartedly laughed.

"Its Bill too!" Another one said.

"I… ummm…" Bill stuttered.

"Will you two sign my PokeBalls?" Some one asked as she held up two red balls in her hand.

"You all." I said, raising my hand. "Hey!" I said a little bit louder.

"I don't think its working." Bill commented as the crowds voice continued to escalate.

"I know…" I groaned as I grabbed the pokeball off my necklace, releasing Arcanine in the center.

"RRRAAAA!" He roared, making the crowd go silent.

"Thank you." I said, taking a deep breath. "Hey you all, I don't mind to chat, but we have had a long day. Relax, okay?" I then took one pokeball from the girl, grabbing a marker from the desk and signing my name on it. I smiled, handing it back to her.

"Hey Kyle?" A person asked, stepping up from the crowd. "Can we see your pokemon?"

"I'll make you a deal," I said, smiling as I rested my elbows on the counter. "Get me a pop and promise that you wont call the paparazzi." I lifted my head, looking at the Nurse Joy that came to stand in front of me. In her hands was a clear glass bottle with words _'Poke'Cola' _wrote on it.

"This is all we have, is that okay?"

"Yep," I said, taking it out of her hand. "That's great." I then twisted the metal cap off and tipped the bottle up, taking the first swig of pop that I have had in months. "Ahh…" I said with a smile. "That's good." I then took the pokeballs off my belt and laid them on the counter. "Heal these for me, please?" I asked, turning to face the crowd, seeing Arcanine sit down quietly beside me.

***_-Scene Change-_***

Time passed by quick, and before long it was nearly six-o-clock. Nurse Joy ordered pizza for us, and for the first time in a while, I actually had fun with people. We laughed, smiled, and talked. _It had been so long since I sat down, since I stopped running that I… I forgot what it was like. _

Bill and I snuck outside, evading the crowd. I had all my pokemon back in their balls, and safely on my belt. Pichu was sitting on my head, playing with my hair as Bill walked up beside me.

"Well, that was a nice way to end an adventure." Bill said with a smile as he turned to me. "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't now." I said, looking at the sun as it slowly made its way behind one of the distant mountains.

"Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know that either."

There was a pause as Bill turned away. "Kyle," he said, back facing me. "If you ever need me, you know where I am." I heard him chuckle. "You crazy fool."

"Yeah," I smiled. "I am, I'll give you that." I then turned to him. "Where are you going?"

"Home. I have a ton of work to get caught up on."

"Well, here." He turned around as I dug into the inside pocket of my leather jacket. I threw him a pokeball, and smiled. "Just don't release her in public, okay?"

"What?" He asked, looking at the pokeball.

"I'm not giving her to you," I laughed. "Just use her to go home. She'll take you there, don't worry she's safe."

"You forget, I have rode her before." Bill said, holding the cold pokeball in his hand.

"Well, when you get there, just tell her to head back to me."

"Where would that be?" Bill asked.

"She'll know." I smiled as I dug into my pocket, taking out the capsule for my bike. "She has a way of tracking me down." I threw the capsule and in the smoke the bright red bike with the massive amount of stickers appeared in front of me.

"What do I do about the pokeball?" Bill asked as Pichu and I hopped on the bike. "Its not like she can be inside of it when she flies back."

"Give it to her to hold in her claw." I commented, sliding on my helmet. Pichu nuzzled into his cup holder, sliding his goggles over his eyes as he gave me the thumbs up. "Bill," I said, turning my head to look at him. "Thanks. For everything. You are a real pal."

"Yeah, well, you owe me." He smiled. "Don't forget that."

I smiled back, pushing the safety buttons as I started the bike. With that Pichu and I took off down the road, heading to Viridian.


	36. Kyle's Gift

**Chapter 35**

**Kyle's Gift**

It was 10 a.m. the next day when I saw clouds forming above some of the tropical areas around Cinnabar Island. I was on the beach, one leg reclined and the other arched up in a way that I was able to rest my arm on it. I had my shades on, a button up shirt with blue stripes, and my old blue jeans that had seen better days. Black biker boots were probably not the best choice for the beach, but I always hated how sand got everywhere, and boots did prevent that from happening. I was enjoying the nice breeze when the cold wind hit my back. That familiar voice rang in my head, and I knew without a doubt what it was.

"Well," I said to Pichu as I took the shades away from my eyes, placing them on my head. "Look likes its time to go." I looked over to my right, and behind a massive mound of sand, Pichu was hard at work building a castle. "Pichu?" I laughed, standing up and brushing off the sand that was stuck in the denim of my pants. "Bud, come on. Articuno is waiting on us."

"Pii-i-i!" He whined, looking at me with such a pitiful face. His eyes wide like a puppy dog begging for food.

"Hey now…" I said. "Don't you pull that on me."

"Pi-cha…" He then got even bigger eyes, and put on and even sadder face.

"Arrgg…" I groaned, looking around the beach. We were alone, not even a Krabby was present. "Fine, you can stay here."

"Pi! Cha!" He squealed happily.

"But only until I get back with Articuno. Got it?"

"Pi-Cha!" He nodded, quickly getting back to work on his castle.

I shook my head, smiling as I walked through the lush tropical forest of the volcanic island. _You know, what if something happened to him? Well, its not like he can't take care of himself, he is a two time Pokemon League Champion after all. _

"_You realize that the first League doesn't count?" _Articuno spoke, as I walked closer into the forest.

I looked up, hearing something move in the trees above me as a cold wind began to blow through. "But still, my argument stands. He can take care of himself."

Articuno flew through the treetops, landing beside me as she placed her pokeball down on the ground. _"You both have room to mature."_

"Well it's nice to see you too." I smiled, holding up her pokeball.

"_So,"_ she asked. _"When will you let me know what the surprise is?"_

"Soon, but first I need to take you there, without drawing attention to ourselves." I pressed the ball against her feathers, sucking her up inside the container. "Now," I said, taking Pidgeot's pokeball off my belt. "Lets head on out of here." In a red light the bird appeared, and just as soon, we took off into the air.

"Head to the beach." I spoke, pointing to where I left Pichu.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Wow," I said, recalling Pidgeot as I looked at the carnage of the island. Pichu ran off my shoulder, jumping head first into the sand and then bolting for the ocean, gathering sand before the waves pulled it away.

"These poor islands." I looked around. Even though only one of the Seafoam Islands collapsed on that day nearly two years ago, they just seem so… empty now. I held the ice-cold pokeball in my hand as I took a deep breath. "I hope you like this." I threw the ball, and in the red light Articuno appeared. Snowflakes began to fall around us, and she turned to look at her once beautiful home. I felt her heart break, almost as if we were linked together. She turned to look at me, a frozen tear in her eye.

"_Why have you brought me here?"_ She asked. _"For what reason have you brought me to my once proud home?"_

"This is your present." I said, putting my hands in my pocket. "With the prize money I got from this league, and some of the influential people I know, I was able to purchase these islands for you." She turned, looking at the mountains she once lived in. "When I bought them I donated them to the Pokemon League, and changed them to a Pokemon Sanctuary, Level 1." She looked at me confused.

"_Level 1?"_

"That means that only pokemon can ever come onto the islands."

"_How would that be enforced?"_

"By the league." I said, walking up beside her. "The league said that the waters in this area are protected by the Cinnabar Naval Force, so they will be the ones monitoring these islands now." I backed away from her. "I know you said that you will stay with me, but you really don't have too." I then looked down to the ground. "I captured you only to protect you, and now that you are safe, and you have a home… you…"

I lifted my head, and it startled me that Articuno was standing in front of me, almost with a smile. _"Thank you."_ She said. _"But my time will come."_ She turned to see her mountain again. _"Thank you very much, and one day, perhaps this will be my home again. But for now,"_ she walked closer to me. _"My place is with you. And when you no longer need me, is when I will leave. I know you feel guilt for my lost home, but as you said, it wasn't your fault."_ She then placed her beak on her pokeball. _"I will still be with you. Wherever you go."_ With that she was sucked back into her ball.

I held the frosting pokeball in my hand, taking in what all happened. I then looked to the sky, feeling the wind from the ocean brush through my brown hair. _Where do I go from here?_ I turned around, watching Pichu chase down a Krabby that was running diagonally across the sand. It suddenly buried under the ground, evading Pichu's pounce. Pichu then began digging, trying to find the lost little crab.

"Come on Pichu." I said with a smile as I walked to the waves crashing on the shore. I stuck the frostbitten pokeball in my pocket, as I grabbed another off my belt, throwing it onto the water. The large serpent appeared, diving under the water and then jumping up again, moving around outside of battle for the first time in a while.

"How are you doing Gyarados?" I asked, wading in the water.

"Gar! Gar!" He smiled a toothy smile, smacking his tail onto the water making a splash that made me bobble in the waves.

I smiled, swimming over to him as Pichu and I climbed on his side. "Take us back to Pallet," I said as I reclined on his back. "No need to hurry either. I want to take it easy."

"Pichu!" Pichu spoke, running up Gyarados's back and sitting behind the fin on his head, acting like he was steering the massive dragon.

I put on my shades once we started moving. "Yep, nothing but smooth sailing." A cloud drifted by as I closed my eyes. _This is what I needed._

***_-Scene Change-_***

It was about four or so when we arrived at Pallet. _I always enjoyed that little town. Nothing much goes on in it, but the scenery is beautiful. The ocean crashing on the rocky shore of the mountains and cliffs, the little area between them where the water meets the shore… this whole place was all so calming to me. _

When we hit the loading docks I recalled Gyarados and made my way to the road. It killed me, and I don't know why I did, but I glanced at the corner of the docks. I saw her. For a small, brief and sad moment, I saw her. She was sailing away, not looking back. Her hair, blowing in the wind as she left.

I shook my head, digging into my pocket for the capsule and item holder which I tossed on the ground. The bike appeared, as did my jacket, helmet and gloves. By the time I was able to put them on, however, Pichu was already in the cup holder, giving me the thumbs up with his goggles and jacket on. I pulled the sun visor down on my helmet and drove off, heading north.

***_-Scene Change-_***

The driveway at the house was still the same. I pulled the bike in, killing the motor as I used my foot to balance it up on two wheels. _The thing was massive, weighing at least 300 pounds, so it took all my strength just to keep the thing level._ I took a deep breath, exhaling and considering what was going on. _Do I really want to go in there? Do I want to fall back into that trap?_ I looked down at my gloves. _How far have I come? And why do I keep coming back?_ I then cast my eyes on the front porch. Toys thrown all over it. Alisa's dolls littered the swing. Action figures on the steps, and toy guns by the door.

I laughed to myself. _Man, Mom has really toned down in her older years. If that were me leaving those toys out there, I would have got the tar beat out of me. _I then frowned. _I do suppose the only reason why I came back was to see my little brother and sister. _I clinched my hand tight. _But…do they really… know me? Sure, I raised them for their younger years, but I have been out of their lives for almost two years now. I'm 16, almost 17 and the only person that would know that is me. _

I pushed the buttons on the bike, revving the engine as I slid it out of the driveway.

"Pi?" Pichu asked, as I faced the bike to the south.

"We're not stopping." I said. "It's better they forget me. I was planning on never looking back, so why should I now?" We took off down the road, and in the rear view mirror I saw a woman walk out into the driveway. I looked away, focusing on the road ahead of me as I headed back to Pallet Town.

***_-Scene Change-_***

"Hoenn." I said, slamming some cash down on the counter of the loading dock ticket booth. We were in Pallet town, and the sun was just getting ready to sit. Pichu was making a little nest, or something, in my book bag. _I still haven't figured out what he does in there, but I don't really care. As long as he's happy, the little rat could be munching on my snacks for all I care. _

"Alright." The old man behind the counter said. He rang up the ticket, printing out a paper, and then read it with a funny look on his face. "I'm sorry sir," he said. "But the last boat for the day… well, is not selling tickets any more."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "When is it leaving?"

Right then I heard the whistle blow. I turned my head and saw a small cruise boat departing from the dock.

"That would be it." He then sighed, typing on his computer. "Hang on and I'll give you a refund."

"Don't worry about it." I said with a smile, holding a pokeball. "I'm getting on that boat.

"Son, that boat has alre-" The man stopped when he saw me running out the door. He shook his head. "Kids these days, always in a hurry."

"Go!" I screamed, running off the dock as I released Dragonite under my feet. As if in an awesome movie, when I stepped off the docks she appeared. One of my feet was resting between her wings, the other on the lower part of her back. "Get us on that boat!" I said, pointing my arm at the ship that had just recently departed.

"Dra!" She called out, taking off like a bullet to the ship.

We were there in no time. She landed on the ships deck, making some people turn around and look at us. I recalled her calmly and glanced around the boat. People were staring, almost like a, 'who the heck does he think he is' type of look.

Suddenly two sailors came up to me, big burly guys. "Excuse me sir." One of them said. "Where is your ticket?"

"Call the docks." I said, waving him away. "I paid for my ticket, the old fart just didn't give it to me in time." I stuck my hands in my pocket as I walked past them. "Now, if you don't mind I'm going to show myself to my room. Don't worry, I'll find it." _After all, two weeks on a boat is a long time. I might as well get comfortable, even if I take someone else's room in the process. _

_Why Hoenn? I don't know. Why not Hoenn? Maybe some time away is what I need. Time to unwind, take it easy. Time to not worry about anything, to be myself. Time to… reflect. _

I walked down the stairs of the cruise ship, making my way to the rooms. _Two weeks in solitude sounds pretty good. Two whole weeks. … _

_I wonder if hermits have a good life? Hermits... man, crab sounds good right now, I'm starving. _

**The End**

_I hope that you have enjoyed the Arson in Johto edition of the Fired Up Fights saga. As of now I have no intention of continuing the story of Hoenn, Perhaps if I get more comments and reviews I will reconsider._

_If you are still interested in how the story ends (will Kyle ever meet up with Shonna again?), please read the corresponding stories found here:_

_fanfiction .net /u/ 1980850/_

_(without spaces)  
_

_Thank you all for your time and contributions to the Fired Up Fights saga. I have had a blast writing these stories and hope that they were just as entertaining to read. I would love to hear your comments and feedback on my writings. I am still working on revising my Fired Up Fights in Kanto, and The Cinders of Kanto, so don't forget to keep checking back for more updates._

_If you have any suggestions, please let me know._

_Once again, thank you all for your support. _

**Kyle Gray**


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